When in Rome
by PotterCriminallovers
Summary: Being a part of any Government organization is never an easy task but what if you're the part of three of the most influential and secretive organizations the American Government has? Mistrust, secrets, fake identities, and a baby that caused all this - how will JJ manage a normal life on top of all of the lies?
1. Chapter 1

Spencer sat in the cushioned seat on the plane and looked down at the box in his hands in awe. Inside were two maroon tickets that read, 'Washington Redskins Saturday October fifteenth, 2:30pm.' Gideon had given them to him for his birthday, and now the newly turned twenty-four year old man was gathering up the courage to ask the beautiful Jennifer Jareau to go with him.

He rose from his seat and walked over to where JJ sat with a coffee in her hand, reading over a newspaper. She seemed invested in the announcement section; Spencer started tapping his fingers against the leather chair before sitting down again. "She's busy… I'll do it later."But the stern look from Gideon turned him back to his fellow agent and squeak out a quick hello.

"Hey Spence," JJ replied flashing him a quick smile before turning back to the paper.

Reid let out a grumbled noise and started twirling his thumbs before finally being able to get words out, "I, uh, I have tickets to a game. The Redskins game, and I uh, I wanted you to go with me, maybe, if you wanted to?" It was a little choppy, but he knew JJ would understand what he was asking.

"I'd love to," she smiled, "This Saturday right? Pick me up at two and we can walk down from my place."

He felt the redness of his blush roll against his cheek and he nodded, "y-yeah! We'll walk together." Spencer watched as JJ turned back to the newspaper to continue to read, he peered at the paper to see what she was so invested in. **"Connie Imelda Prentiss, seven pounds eight ounces. Born Wednesday October twelfth at six-twenty-nine AM, Mother Emily Prentiss and child both are healthy and happy to be sharing a birthday!"**

" _Did JJ know this woman?"_ Spencer debated asking her about it but changed his mind as he knew JJ valued her privacy. Instead he moved to go sit back with Gideon and attempted to win another game of chess; his endorphins were running high he could do just about anything now. Just about.

When he returned to his seat Spencer ended up being too distracted thinking about his soon to be date with JJ that he left his king wide open. This made Gideon smirk knowing his apprentice was too love stricken to even pay attention to where his pieces were moving and he wasn't above using that to his advantage.

Hotch dismissed everyone at the runway letting them all know that they were due at the office tomorrow at nine AM no earlier. Everyone said their usual goodbyes and no one asked for a group dinner or coffee run. It was too late and a warm cozy bed was calling each and every one of their names; all except for JJ.

The blonde liaison climbed into her SUV and started the engine, she turned up the radio and scanned around for a song that wasn't rap or obnoxiously over played. She finally smacked the off button when Hollaback girl played on the fifth station in a row.

After driving around for a bit she pulled up outside of a newly build apartment building. It had just been completed about three months ago, and that was the first time JJ remembered actually seeing the finished project. The blonde typed in the access code to the building then got on the elevator that took her to the seventh floor. Checking her watch it was breaching ten PM. JJ debated visiting her friend later but decided to go ahead anyways babies usually never slept .

She knocked on the door that read 712 and rolled onto the balls of her feet. JJ couldn't help but feel guilty. " _Should I be here?"_ She thought to herself. _"Does Emily even want me here?"_ It was too late to change her mind because a brunette woman with bright brown eyes peaked out behind the door.

"JJ, hi!" She smiled brightly as she moved the door open wider to motion JJ in. "Sorry for the mess, I'm still getting settled and the-"

"The baby." JJ finished, Emily blushed slightly as she moved out from behind the door to expose the one day old child nursing on her breast. "The hospital called, you weren't discharged. They like to keep mothers overnight, you know? Your vagina is kind of still dilated and your child needs to be monitored."

"Connie is fine." Emily replied as she walked over to her couch. "I just didn't feel safe there; all I could think about was her being out of my sight and Doyle's goons finding her." JJ noticed that she shuttered at the thought.

JJ slumped onto the couch and groaned they had been over this plenty of times! Maybe it was pregnancy brain? "He's locked away in a prison, thousands of miles away, and Lauren Reynolds died Emily! He is never going to find you and he is never going to take Connie away from you."

The brunette nodded her head quickly before removing the child from her nipple and fixing her shirt before laying the day old girl over her shoulder and patting her back to burp her. "I know that… I just can't help but think that it isn't true. That he is out there and he knows about Connie and he is coming for us and Declan."

JJ reached out for the baby and coddled her in her arms; she traced the child's nose with her free index finger. She felt her heart speed up at the beautiful face of the baby, every maternal bone in her body was running on overdrive. "Well then," JJ said. "We'll die your hair- get the brown colour out and get you back to black."

Emily swallowed her tears, "thank you." She whispered as she watched JJ bounce the baby slightly putting her to sleep. "And thank you for coming by."

JJ's hand extended to pat Emily's leg. "I wouldn't miss meeting the little cutie that caused us so much trouble."

 _ **Agent Jennifer Jareau sat in her office late one Friday night looking over the latest edition of consult requests. She didn't hear her door being opened or the director of the FBI step into her office.**_

" _ **Agent Jareau?" He spoke making the blonde jump and drop her pen.**_

" _ **Sir," She replied as she stood from her chair. "Uh, please have a seat." She offered extending her hand to the wood chair in front of her desk.**_

 _ **He pulled out the chair and seated himself making the chair creak. JJ too sunk down into her chair and pulled her hands into her lap interlocking her fingers together. "What can I do for you sir?" She asked as confidently as she could.**_

 _ **The director pulled his briefcase up on to the desk and clipped the clasps opening it all the way before pulling a slim file out. "Tell me about your experience with the missing persons unit." He was so calm opposite to the way JJ was feeling.**_

 _ **JJ swallowed she was no negotiator; all she did was send out Amber alerts for the children and elderly, sometimes answering phone calls and emails that no one else wanted. "I worked there for about six month's sir, I worked closely with agents Rydell and Dixson. I never entered the field until agent Hotchner recruited me just before the Boston bombing…" She stayed silent for a moment mourning her fellow agents. "He saw my work on the Jessica Jacobs case."**_

 _ **Jessica Jacobs was a three year old girl who was kidnapped by a group of hit men targeting her father. Carson Jacobs was in the running to be the next Senator but his beliefs of supporting gay rights did not sit well with many people. The child was abducted from her preschool hours before the election and her red hair was cut off, tied into a braid and sent to the family. That case was the first time JJ ever stepped foot in front of a camera. Even with her Barbie resemblance and small demeanour she calmed the crowd and ordered multiple search parties, and even organized and extracted an entire recovery task force in less than two hours (the second fasted in FBI history)when they discovered the child's whereabouts.**_

 _ **When she headed to work the next day Aaron Hotchner was waiting for her at her over crowded desk, the one that was shoved in the corner to keep her away from all the hassle in the always busy office. To the missing persons unit JJ was just a pretty piece of eye candy who answered phones and called out favours when they asked her to; never did any of the men working in the office think she would make it to the BAU before any of them.**_

" _ **You made history that day agent Jareau, and it is your quick thinking and calmness under pressure that has me certain you are the agent for the job." The director stated with what was almost a smile. "In this file there will be all the information you will need for this assignment." He handed her the brown envelope that read CONFIDENTIAL in dark red letters.**_

 _ **JJ grasped it afraid to open it. "What exactly is my assignment Sir?"**_

 _ **The director sat back in the chair. "The CIA and Interpol need you to make someone disappear. She never existed and won't ever again. You're meeting is at six thirty tomorrow morning."**_

" _ **What about work? What do I tell Hotch- agent Hotchner?"**_

 _ **The director stood, "you're visiting family for a few days, and I've already cleared it."**_

" _ **Ok…" JJ mumbled. "Sir, where exactly am I going?"**_

" _ **Columbia."**_

It was almost midnight when JJ returned home. She did not really feel tired instead she felt rested and well. _"Maybe it was all the time with the baby?"_ She thought to herself. JJ sat on her couch and turned the television on to some late night talk show before she knew it she had drifted off to sleep.

" _ **Wow." JJ whispered as she stepped onto the private jet. She had been on the BAU jet countless times but this jet was by far greater than that one. All the seats were couches, and it came fully equipped with multiple screens and an accessible meeting table.**_

" _ **Wow is correct agent Jareau." A male agent boarded the jet behind her. "I'm agent Franklin from the Terrorism bureau. And you're from missing persons correct?" He extended his hand sending her a soft smile that made her heart melt.**_

 _ **JJ took his hand and gave it a shake. "Actually I'm BAU now." It felt triumphant to be able to tell people that.**_

" _ **Oh." Franklin's eyes widened. "I didn't realize we were bringing in the shrinks, and I didn't realize you've been a part of the FBI for ten years." He joked sending her a wink. "You look far too young."**_

 _ **JJ blushed but played it off with a laugh. "No, about seven months now, I'm the new liaison for the BAU, I don't profile; not to the same extent anyways."**_

 _ **Franklin nodded. "You're the girl from the Jessica Jacobs case right? I was told you'd look like FBI Barbie." His eyes roamed over JJ making her blush even more and making it harder to hide. He was definitely an attractive man.**_

" _ **That's what Dixson called me-"**_

" _ **Gerald Dixson? He and I were brothers in the academy; couldn't go a single day without talking to each other. Still can't. And man does he talk about you a lot. He wasn't wrong about how good you look."**_

 _ **At this point JJ felt her entire light up like red Christmas lights; she found her way to the couch. "Agent Franklin, are you hitting on me?" She retorted after composing herself.**_

" _ **That depends agent Jareau, is it working?" He asked sitting on the couch right next to her leaving little room for her to move not that she needed to.**_

JJ woke up with a start as the familiar sound of her ringtone played in her ear. She felt around until she found the device and clicked the answer button. Finding out it was a wrong number JJ brought herself to open her eyes and check the time. The small screen read 8:30 which scared the crap out of JJ as she jumped from the couch and stripped off yesterday's clothes before running to her bedroom to find a new outfit for today.

JJ arrived at the office fifteen minutes later and sighed in relief that no one was there yet. She started the coffee pot in the break room before heading to her office to sort through the new consults.

Her mind kept shifting away from her work towards the dream she had or well memory. It had been a long time since she had dreamt about Andrew Franklin. Well the first time ever actually but the first time in almost a year since she had thought about him. She and Andrew shared a mere physical relationship during their week long trip to Columbia to collect Emily Prentiss and stage Lauren Reynolds death. They had gone there for work but it definitely wasn't what they stayed for.

It was the first and only time JJ had let herself get so close to someone without any strings attached, he was definitely an amazing lover, and she wasn't so bad herself.

But something was different their last night in Columbia, Andrew was different while they were in bed. They were not loud or adventurous like usual instead he was slow and careful making sure JJ was comfortable the entire time and taking care of her needs first. At the time JJ had enjoyed herself, if only she knew she would wake up alone the next morning. Andrew never made an appearance again after their last night; he never made it onto the jet home. JJ tried for a few weeks to find answers on his whereabouts but every bureau shut her down. Finally she had just given up and moved in with her life.

"JJ?" Spencer knocked on the door and he opened it and poked his head in. "Hotch wants us all so we can debrief." He told her.

JJ shook her head a little before standing. "Sorry I must have drifted all. I'll follow behind you." She smiled at her friend as she closed some case files. _"It was going to be a long day."_

 **AN:What do you guys thinks? This story has been in the works for a while so I hope you all enjoy it. I have four chapters written already so I hope I can keep updating at a relatively good pace. Please leave a review!**

 **And When In Rome is a working title it may change. If you have suggestions let me know!**

 **And a special thanks to Annber03 for helping me out with this chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**One year later**

"Emily you are being positively stupid! Now let's go!" JJ yelled down the hallway of her best friend's apartment. The liaison was carrying her purse and briefcase in one hand and a one-year-old in the other. "Don't you agree with Connie? Mommy is being very silly?" The raven haired child giggled as she grasped onto her god mothers hair. "No Connie let go," JJ ordered but the baby kept tugging, having no hands to pry the child's hands away so JJ just lets her continue.

"I'm not being stupid I'm just worried! Didn't I tell you she likes hair?" Emily added to change the conversation as she popped into eyesight, she took her daughter away from JJ and perched her on her hip before grabbing her purse and go bag from by the coat rack.

"Is that why you cut it off?" JJ asked admiring her friend's shorter locks.

"That and I wanted a fresh look for today. Hotch was a real hard ass the other day." She groaned, by the end, she was practically begging him for this job.

JJ shook her head as she opened the door and stepped out of the apartment. "I told you, tough but fair. And I also told you he wasn't going to take it easily. You're disrupting the balance." JJ joked; she knew how Hotch and Gideon were about who they hired. It took a lot of per swaying from Morgan to get them to give Elle a chance… and it turned out they were right about her. So taking in Emily when all of her documents were forged and technically illegal (not that they knew) was a lot harder than they hoped for not to mention Emily and Hotch's history.

Prentiss shifted Connie onto her other hip before locking the door and following the blonde to the elevator. "How was I supposed to remember he worked for my mother? I was never home!"

"Except the summer that you were home," JJ replied with a sarcastic sigh. "And you swooned at the shiny new play toy your mama had bought."

Emily groaned. "I regret telling you that…"

"But you did! So it is free game!" She laughed.

"I didn't know he was married!"

"You could have been a normal person and just ask instead of spending two months trying to seduce him."

During Emily's last year at Yale, her mother had hired a new security detail for herself. When Emily returned for the summer her mother had taken off to some European country and missed her daughter's graduation. And in Emily style retaliation she threw the biggest party Yale had ever seen. Hotch being the new rookie was in charge of watching over the house while Ambassador Prentiss was away. And as an initiation to the force, no one told him exactly what Emily Prentiss was like. As a result, he had definitely seen more of her than he would ever want to.

Emily rolled her eyes as she stepped onto the elevator. "You're right," she sighed over dramatically, "I am just jealous that you get to spend time with your boyfriend all day every day. Sharing hotels and long nights in the office! It just is not fair for the poor single woman in the world!"

"Reid is not my boyfriend!" JJ snapped harshly.

"But you wish he was," Emily replied tauntingly. "You wish for that second date he never asked you out on. He spilled his beer on you and you've just fallen head over heels."

JJ checked her watch as the elevator lowered to parking. "I'm done talking about this."

* * *

"Take Prentiss with you," Hotch ordered Gideon as he continued down the catwalk to his office.

"Five minutes!" The senior agent yelled down into the bullpen at the new agent.

JJ stepped out of her office and down to the grouping of desks to see her friend hiding a smiled as she stacked the rest of her files on her desk. "Do you want me to call Sharon for you?" JJ asked in a whisper.

Emily nodded slightly. "Could you? I haven't had time to figure out a plan yet…"

"Don't worry about it; I'll bring her to the office." Emily was about to comment but JJ continued. "Hotch will be running around all day, Gideon is in Guantanamo Bay, and Penelope loves children. However, you were supposed to discuss Connie with Hotch remember?" The blonde's eyes narrowed. "You promised."

"I haven't had time," Emily said as she gripped her go bag. "But I will when I get back."

JJ hugged her friend. "I know, now go because Gideon really will leave you behind."

The intense case rang on and on. Hotch and Morgan traveled the city to locate the bombs while JJ and Garcia stayed in the bat cave raiding through CIA case files.

The two girls were watching the screen when JJ phone buzzed; she checked her messages before abruptly standing up. "I will be back in a few minutes, don't do anything that will get us fired." She smirked before walking out the door and hearing Penelope giggle.

The blonde made it down to the front doors of the FBI building where she met Sharon who was pushing a baby stroller back and forth. "Thanks for bringing her." JJ smiled as she approached the older woman. "Emily should be back soon and she'll give you a call."

"Not a problem." Sharon smiled as she handed over the diaper bag. "Are you allowed babies in the office?"

"We'll find out. Have a good night."

JJ brought Connie up the ninth floor and pushed the stroller in quietly in hopes of surprising her friend. The office was fairly quiet at this hour so there was no fear of anyone approaching the one-year-old. JJ reopened the door and pushed the stroller in. "I have a surprise for you…" She whispered.

Garcia swung her chair around and let out a shriek of surprise. "A baby! Where did this gorgeous angel come from?!"

JJ laughed as she lifted the child from the stroller. "Garcia, this is Connie. Connie this is Penelope Garcia the woman who will spoil you to death." The blonde cradled the baby against her hip and swayed slightly. "Connie is Emily's daughter," JJ informed her friend. "She's just over a year now."

Garcia's eyes widened and her mouth flew into a giant smile. "She has a baby?! Is she married?! What else is she not telling us?!" The analyst shrieked scaring the child who started to cry.

JJ rolled her eyes but smiled at the same time. "Calm down, Em is not hiding anything she just wanted to make sure she felt comfortable on the team before disclosing to us that she has a daughter."

"She told you," Garcia replied almost accusingly.

"The sitter does not do overnights but we do, for tonight anyways. So let's get Connie comfy then go back to work."

Hours went by before the team was safe again. Emily sat in the seat on the jet next to Reid as she stared out the window at the moving clouds lost in thought.

"That's it, I quite." Reid proclaimed before he slid out of his seat. "I'm taking a nap." He sprawled himself out on the couch and shut his eyes.

"Do you play?" Gideon asked the newest agent breaking her from her thoughts.

Emily felt herself smile as she shifted seats to where Spencer had been sitting before. "I do." She stated before resetting the pieces to play.

The game intensely progressed and Gideon definitely felt the challenge as he thought out all of his pawns and pieces. It was no surprise when he figured out Emily was doing the same thing. Soon Spencer had even come back to the table to watch the two play.

"How old is your daughter?" Gideon asked surprising Emily as she moved her Rook.

"Uh," she stammered. "Just over a year… How did you?-?"

Gideon moved his Queen. "You have a pink flowered car seat in your car; I saw it when you and JJ pulled in this morning." He informed her. "I never took you as one to make a gender stereotype."

Emily smiled and shook her head. "My mother bought it; she was convinced I was having a girl. And she was right as usual."

"You and JJ drove in together?" Reid asked moving away from the topic of the conversation.

"Yes." Emily nodded. "We don't live far from each other so we agreed to carpool for the first little while." She moved her Queen and placed Gideon in check.

"You live by Saint Avenue drive?" The genius asked raising an eyebrow.

Emily turned to look at the boy before smirking. "You know where JJ lives?"

"Yes." He replied flatly.

"Been to her house?" This time there was a playful questioning in her voice that made Gideon lower his head before continuing to move his pieces.

"Yes?" Spencer questioned as though it was a weird thing for her to ask.

"He doesn't get it." Gideon finally spoke up. "They went on a date, he's not stalking her."

Spencer's face turned beet red while Emily was in hysterics. "I know," she laughed turning to look at her colleague. "She told me, I was just playing with you."

"S-she talked about it?" He asked quite shocked. He had made such a fool of himself that he was just too afraid to ever ask her out again and he agreed to keep it a secret when she asked him too.

Emily smiled. "She did and she had fun."

This made Spencer smile before he tried to hide it from his friends.

When the jet landed Gideon exited first followed by Reid then Emily. When Emily made it onto the steps her entire face lightened up when she saw JJ standing on the runway with a stroller and a smiling Connie who had noticed her mother.

Emily descended the stairs and almost ran right to JJ. As soon as she reached the blonde Emily unbuckled her child from the stroller and picked up her child and hugged her. "Hi Connie," she greeted. "Were you good for JJ?"

The baby laughed, smiled, and babbled before resting her head on her mother's shoulder and placing her fingers in her mouth.

JJ smiled at the pair before looking over Emily to see Spencer and Gideon staring at the two of them. JJ nodded her head to sign to Emily to turn around.

"Right!" Emily gasped. "Gideon, Reid, this is Connie, my daughter." She walked towards the two men. "Say hi Connie."

The child just stared at the strange men while she profusely sucked her fingers. "Children under eighteen months tend not to speak unless it is a one-word sentence. Often it would be mama or dada, maybe a personalized version of a bottle. However, studies have shown that it may not even be real words but rather children expressing their sounds and parents manipulating that to feel happiness and excitement at their children knowing who they are. Babies do know who their parents are and often have different pitches of cries for each parent. They are also starting studies to show that babies can learn sign language before they learn how to talk and crawl. " Reid shared with the group.

JJ just shook her head while Emily nodded. "Well she's not even doing that yet but we'll get there when she is ready." She then turned to the senior agent. "Do you want to hold her?"

Gideon looked gobsmacked before extending his arms. "If you don't mind?" Connie instantly took to Gideon as he held her. She curled up into him and fell asleep the moment she found a comfortable position.

While Emily and Gideon were busy JJ walked over to Spencer and tapped his arm to get his attention. "Can we talk?" She asked.

"Uh… Sure…" He replied taking a step over to give them privacy. "H-have I done something?" He asked with a scared look in his eyes.

"No! No Spence, you haven't I promise." JJ reassured resting her hand on his shoulder. "I wanted to ask… I wanted to ask if you wanted to go for lunch tomorrow. Or even dinner if you prefer?" Her arm moved down to caress his. "Don't feel pressured to say yes, I did have a great time last year at the game. And I regret not letting anything come from it. So if you would like, I'd like to try again."

The younger man couldn't help the smile that spread all the way across his face making his cheeks hurt. "Yes! Uh I mean yeah, yeah that would be nice."

JJ chuckled. "Great, I'll pick you at your place then. Two? Make it a late lunch."

"Yeah, two sounds great." JJ turned to walk to the SUV when Spencer held her shoulder to stop her. "I'll pick you up instead."

Instead of heading home from the air strip JJ and Emily made a stop back at the office. The bullpen was cleared out but they both knew that Aaron Hotchner was still working hard in his office. The girls walked across the catwalk and entered the room without knocking. "Aaron we need to talk," JJ said startling the man.

The use of his first name had Hotch knowing that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. "JJ? I sent everyone home." He told her as he sat up higher in his chair.

"I know." She replied as she pulled out the two chairs. Emily was still carrying Connie as she sat in one of them. "We need to discuss something with you."

"If it's about Connie I already know Jason called-"

"It is but not what you might think," JJ replied cutting him off. "What I'm about to tell you never leaves this room to understand?"

Hotch was taken aback by JJ's forcefulness but he nodded in agreement. JJ reached into her purse and pulled out a death certificate. Hotch looked down at the paper and read the name; "Imelda Addison Doyle" he read. "I don't understand."

"Know that name," JJ commanded. "Learn it; memorize it, everything on this paper. There is not much I can tell you because you don't have the clearance for it but this is what you do know; Imelda Doyle died with her mother Lauren Reynolds over a year ago. Connie and Imelda are not the same people no matter what anyone tells you. And it may not be soon but one day someone will start asking questions and they won't like getting answers. Imelda was born months early from an emergency C-section, due to her mother's stress. And the two were killed on impact in a car accident in Columbia. There was just too much damage done that the family decided on cremation and not a casket.

Hotch just glared at the communication liaison he was shocked and impressed at the same time. "Will I get answers?" He asked.

"One day," JJ replied firmly. "But not soon."

"I want the answers from you JJ." He commented. "I don't want to hear this from some government official."

The blonde nodded. "I know Hotch."

The girls stood up and Hotch stopped them. "Be safe. Both of you."

"I always am Hotch." JJ flashed him a quick smile.

As the girls left the office Hotch leaned back in his chair and sighed. He knew this would happen; he knew someone inside of their team would be called somewhere for other government business, it always happened but he hoped he had time. JJ was good that's why he hired her in the first place he knew she would draw attention to herself that's why he was so fast on hiring her that day after her first appearance on TV. He thought he had got JJ at just the right time; right before others came calling and offering her better offers. Obviously, this was not the offer he had expected her to get. She was doing the governments dirty work and he prayed they weren't setting her up for failure.

 **AN: I'm having a Hedley day and if you do not know who they are EDUCATE YOURSELF! Anyways xD please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

_JJ and Andrew entered the cheap motel on the other side of the city from where they were staying. JJ took a long sip of her water bottle as they exited the truck and walked up the small amount of steps to room 12B. JJ was about to open the door when Andrew's arms wrapped around her waist and pushed her against the wall next to the door. JJ was about to ask him what he thought he was doing when Andrew's lips crashed against hers. JJ froze processing what had just happened and when she did she couldn't control herself. Her hands found their way into Andrew's dark brown hair, her body was reacting against his trying to get as close as possible._

 _He pulled away far too early for JJ's liking. He looked her in the eye before wiping her lip gloss off of his mouth. "I couldn't help it." He grinned. "You've been running through my mind since the jet ride."_

JJ stepped out of the shower and grabbed the fluffy white towel hanging on the rack. She looked at the clock that sat on the sink counter and groaned when she realized she only had half an hour to get ready before Spence came to picked her up.

She was excited and also kind of nervous. She had been waiting for a second date with Reid for almost a year and now she had one. She had no idea where he was taking her though and that made her nervous, not because it would be a bad date but she hated surprises.

The blonde blow dried her hair before applying light makeup and putting in her favorite pair of small silver hoop earrings. Then she moved to her closet, she had no idea what to wear, nice? Casual? Formal? Jeans were definitely out and so were yoga pants. Deciding on a demon skirt, purple blouse, black flats, and matching jacket JJ grabbed her purse and wallet before heading to the lobby to wait for Spencer.

When the elevator made it to the lobby Spencer was already standing there waiting for her arrival. The moment he laid eyes on her his heart stopped and his mouth fell open.

JJ giggled as she walked towards him. "Hi Spence,"

"H-hi, J-JJ." He managed to sputter out. "A-are you r-ready?" He asked pushing his hands into his pockets.

JJ nodded as her hand reached forward to pull one hand out of his pocket and intertwine it with hers. "Yes, I am." They walked out of the building and a surprise to JJ when they walked past Spencer's car and continued down the street. After a few blocks, JJ started swinging their hands, "so, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Spencer blushed as he swung his hand with JJ. "We are almost there; just through the park." He informed her as they stepped onto the green field full of children and play equipment. The two continued down the path until Spencer pulled her over to a more secluded area with large oak trees. JJ tensed for a moment as they walked towards the forest but relaxed when she saw how spread the trees really were. In Between the trees there was a red and white checked blanket with two wine glasses, a candle, and a picnic basket resting on it.

JJ felt her cheeks go red and a smile break across her mouth. "You did not have to do this." The November weather was surprisingly warm and a picnic seemed like the perfect date to the both of them.

Spencer smiled softly in return. "I thought maybe we needed to do something nice… The game was great but-"

"It wasn't really your thing, I know. I am very thankful that you took me, though." JJ smiled up at him. "And I am thankful we agreed to try again." They walked over to the blanket and sat down on opposite sides.

They opened the basket and Spencer started dividing up the potato salad, corn and chickpea salads, grilled artichoke, and the tuna salad sandwiches. JJ smiled as she watched Spencer try to not spill anything as he scooped them out of their bowls onto the plates. Next, he took out a bottle and unscrewed the top. "Isn't it illegal to drink in a public place?" JJ asked jokingly.

"It is alcohol-free champagne, I wasn't sure what type of wine you drank or if you liked alcoholic beverages so I played it safe." He blushed as he poured the drinks into the glasses. He seemed less awkward all of a sudden; maybe it was because they had already been on a date? It didn't matter thought JJ was really enjoying herself.

"So how did you manage to keep people away from here while you went to get me?" JJ asked as she looked around at all the children running around and playing hide-n-seek in the forest area.

"Gideon helped me." He confessed. "He also cooked everything, and decided we should go on a picnic."

"He's a hopeless romantic." JJ laughed, it was written all over the senior agent.

"His wife left him." Spencer spewed out suddenly. "And his son doesn't talk to him, he wants us to work. So that maybe because we share the job we won't end up like he and Mary." He handed the glass to JJ. "They didn't even go through an arguing phase, she just up and left him one day with their son Stephen while he was on a case. It was a pretty bad one and he came home to an empty house with a note."

JJ reached her hand out and rested it on Spencer's leg. "Let's get through our second date, and then maybe we can talk about marriage and children." She joked trying to lighten the mood in which made Spencer's face turn into a tomato.

"I didn't mean to... I wasn't saying..."

The blonde rested her hand on his cheek. "I know Spence, really, do not stress about it okay?"

Reid nodded his head before taking a long sip of his beverage.

The two ate lunch making light conversation and getting to know each other better once Spence finally started talking again. JJ learned that Spencer had received job offers from the CIA, Interpol, and NASA. Spencer had learned that JJ originally planned on being a high school teacher when she started college but quickly learned that it wasn't the best choice for her.

"I always imagined you working well with kids," Spencer told her. "I didn't understand why you were at the FBI until I saw you calm the storm of reporters during the Boston case. You just seem like the motherly type."

JJ nodded as she leaned back to lay on the blanket. "Kids are something I've thought about. Only if they are my own kids, others don't really appeal to me. Not in a bad way I just couldn't spend the whole day with them. I love spending time with Connie and seeing Jack but I could not do it all the time."

"Ah," Spencer replied as he lay down next to JJ.

"What about you? What did you want to be as a kid?" She asked him rolling to her side to look at him. She found herself tracing his face with her eyes trying to capture the way his lips move and his blinking eyes in her mind.

Spencer thought for a minute remembering his childhood. "I wanted to be a carnival worker." He grinned when he heard JJ giggle. "No really!" He defended as he rolled to look at her. "My dad took me when I was six…" His smiled started to fade. "It was the first and only time I had ever been to one. By then I already knew algebra and all of Shakespeare's work so who needed school right? I was going to run away and be a carny but still come home for dinner. That night I made my mom read me _'The Carnival of Animals'_ written by Camille Saint-Saëns who inspired Jean de Brunhoff to write ' _Babar_ '. Anyways , I realized soon after that being a carny was a bad idea for me, I valued education far too much and I was already in the sixth grade and everyone else wanted to be teachers or police officers so I went with something normal to fit in. So when asked I told them I wanted to be a Vet, it still involved animals. Only I learned that dogs don't like me and neither do children; as Morgan and Hotch call it 'The Reid Effect'."

JJ's hand slowly found its way up to Spencer's face where it brushed his brown hair back out of his eyes before resting it on his cheek. "I'm glad you picked the FBI." She whispered. "Or I might not have met you."

Spencer's face reddened. "I-I'm glad I did too." He closed his eyes when he saw JJ shift closer, and he was relieved and excited when JJ's soft lips met his. It was quick but it was the most intense feeling either of them had ever felt. And Spencer could not wait to do it again!

A few weeks had passed and JJ and Spencer had been spending as much time as they could together; coffee after cases, take out on Saturdays, and even a home cooked meal prepared by Reid every once in a while when they had a long period of downtime.

That weekend in the park had been the last good weekend of the year because before they knew it the cold weather rolled around and December sprung upon them. It had been a long time since JJ had felt this happy in a relationship and the first time Spencer had ever really felt this happy at all.

"Com'on Spence," JJ urged. "Show us!" She pleaded with Garcia.

Spencer nodded before telling them to turn around. He placed the white pellets in the black capsule and placed it upside down on his desk and told the girls to turn around. The three watched intently as Spencer waved his fingers around and the capsule shot from the desk into the air and landed on Emily's forehead.

"Ow! What the-!" She cried as she rubbed the red mark. "What are you guys doing?" She asked.

"Physics magic…" Reid replied meekly.

"Oh let me see!" She cried in a happier tone before running to the desk. They repeated the same process much to Emily's persistence to find out how the magic worked. The four watched the rocket takeoff and cringed as it landed at Hotch's feet.

"Reid we talked about this." The older agent sternly told him as the girls took off leaving the youngest to fend for himself.

"I know sir, I'm sorry sir," Reid said.

"You're really starting to get distance on these." He smirked as he placed it on the desk and walked away.

JJ ruffled Spencer's hair as she walked back with Emily. "So he does have a sense of Humor." Emily joked.

"Sometimes," JJ replied. "When he feels like it."

"Where's Morgan?" Emily asked she seemed to have a lot of questions today.

"In Chicago, he goes once a year before Christmas to visit his mom," JJ informed her. "By the way what are your Christmas plans?"

Emily stopped in her tracks and thought about it. "I'm not sure, last year Connie and just watched ' _It's a Wonderful Life_ ' and ' _I Love Lucy'_ but I'm not sure about this year."

"Spend it with me? I'm going to ask Spence if he wants to as well. My mom is visiting my brother, his wife, and daughters in England this year so I'm alone. Unless I go to my aunts but I really don't want to."

"Sure! We'd love to!"

* * *

JJ left the office late that night but she didn't go home. She felt bad about lying to Spencer about where she was going when he asked her to go over to his house that night but he couldn't know. The blonde parked her car in an underground lot across town and locked it behind her as she walked the long distance from the parking spot to the door, the only sound being the click of her heels. She pushed through an emergency door and started her way up the back steps two at a time. The further up she got the fewer lights that shined on the stairs, once she reached the fifth landing JJ entered that door and stopped. She was met with four sets of eyes staring at her.

JJ pulled out the fold out chair in front of her and sat down crossing her legs. "So what's going on?" She asked.

Tsia Mosley was the first to speak out of everyone in the room. "It's nothing bad Jennifer; this is actually very good for us." JJ sat up in her chair and motioned for Tsia to continue. "Doyle is being transferred to camp 22-"

"What!?" JJ exclaimed jumping from her spot. "Are you all insane?! He's going to kill Emily!" She had faith in all the work that she and Franklin had done to keep Emily and the kids safe, what she didn't have faith in were her 'teammates'.

"JJ calm down!" Clyde ordered. "Lauren is dead, and if you did a good enough job at it that should not be a problem!"

JJ scoffed. "I did an amazing job! That's why you all hired me! However, even if there is a thread of evidence proving Lauren OR Emily exist left behind from ANY one of us Doyle will kill her without a second glance! She killed his son and his daughter! Now you are sending him to a North Korean torture chamber like a bunch of scared rats! If they die it will be on your heads, not mine!

The room fell silent for a brief period of time.

"I think it is best, we can find his associates-" Jeremy started.

But JJ wasn't having any of it. "You think this is all over? You're all mistaken! Lauren Reynolds and Imelda Doyle are dead but Emily and Connie Prentiss are very much alive!"

"We aren't telling Emily." Clyde snuck it before JJ could finish ringing them out. "Not a word Jareau."

"Wouldn't dream of it." She snapped. As JJ exited the room and headed down the stairs her cell phone rang making her jump. "Hello?" She answered. "Yes, okay I will be there in ten minutes thank you." Just what she needed… Another case.

* * *

Emily and JJ sat together on the jet ride home. Both of them ridiculed with the stomach pain of guilt. Hotch had a point, how did this team plan to work together if there were secrets? But the problem was he knew; he knew JJ and Emily had secrets they weren't sharing, and they were making him keep a secret from the team.

* * *

Spencer and JJ were sitting on her couch eating Chinese takeout later that night watching Casablanca. JJ hadn't noticed that Reid was stirring his noodles rather than eating them, she was too entranced in the movie. "JJ?" He asked putting his takeout on the coffee table.

JJ sat up a little moving to lean against the armrest. "Is everything okay?"

Spencer nodded. "Yeah, it's just… Talking about secrets all day… Do you have any?" This definitely took JJ by surprise. "I know we are still learning about each other but secrets in a relationship ruin them. I don't want that to happen."

"Ok." JJ clicked the remote pausing the movie. It was definitely a weird thing for him to of have on his mind. She was convinced no one knew she was hiding anything. "Tell me a secret."

Spencer thought for a moment before answering, "I sent my mom to a home… when I turned eighteen." He confessed. "It has just been eating at me for years, and if you were ever to meet my mom… On one of her bad days; I want you to be prepared if she brings it up."

JJ shifted to sit right next to Spencer so she could wrap her arms around him. "You want me to meet your mother?" She asked quietly.

Spencer blushed. "So what's your secret?" He asked changing the topic.

Now JJ could have taken that moment and confided in him about Ian Doyle, and Connie, and Emily. Another side of her knew it was wrong and hoped that Clyde and Tsia were right and Doyle would just disappear forever and she would never have to think about it again. "I hate my job sometimes." She blurted out, it was partially true. "Not because of the gore and the horrid faces of humanity we see daily." Spencer was looking at her with concern. "I feel like I'm playing… like I'm playing god!" She exclaimed. "I choose what case to present to all of you, and what if it is the wrong choice? What if somebody died a terrible and tragic death because I chose to view a different file? I pick who lives and dies."

Spencer didn't speak instead he wrapped his arms around JJ and pulled her close so her head rested against his chest. They cuddled for what felt like forever until he pulled away. "It's not your fault. You didn't create monsters out people."

"I always pick child cases before any other case. What if a child dies because I didn't pick a non-child case? What if a group of children dies because an unsub escalated and there was no one there to catch them?"

"It's fate JJ." Spencer consoled. "Everything happens for a reason." His hand rubbed her back.

JJ laughed as she moved her head against his shoulder. "You don't believe in fate."

"But you do."

* * *

 **AN: 3000 words! Please review guys! And big thanks to What if-if Only for reading my work! It means so much to me! And thank you to everyone who had reviewed it inspires me to keep going!**


	4. Chapter 4

Emily had just managed to get Connie into the crib when she entered her bathroom and slipped into the bathtub full of steaming hot water. She felt so calm and relaxed in that moment she didn't even realize her mind had drifted off.

 _Lauren sat in one of the bathrooms in Ian's mansion. He was off with his workers planning and plotting something she didn't want to be a part of. She had been expecting this for a couple weeks now but she prayed it wasn't true, it couldn't be true. It would be her luck, though… Getting pregnant on a top secret undercover mission._

 _Truth be told she wasn't even supposed to be sleeping with Doyle, not originally. All Emily had to do was join his task force and gain his trust so they could infiltrate him. But the lines between dreams and reality blended when Lauren Reynolds learned that Emily and Ian had a lot in common. She loved his comfort, she loved his touch and how much he cared. She even fell in love with the maid's son and loved him even after she found out Declan was really Ian's son._

 _It was not that long ago that they argued over starting a family, this wasn't the life Emily wanted her children to have. Truth be told she never even wanted kids until she met Ian. But by Doyle's doing or some twisted fate Emily found herself pregnant and for some more twisted reason she felt blessed. Maybe it was because, in some way she wanted this, she wanted something to remember Ian by when they took him away. Maybe. And just maybe this could be the life she wanted…With Ian_

" _Lauren?" She heard Ian call through the door. "Louise said you were in here," Emily groaned internally, of course, did, she was the one who gave Emily the test, "are you alright?" He asked. Emily heard the sincerity in his voice, he really did care about her. She's known it for a while but now it just felt real._

 _She climbed up off the floor and grabbed the pregnancy test from the sink counter. "Yes, just give me a second." She called back before putting the test in her pocket and washing her hands. Once she opened the door Doyle grabbed her wrist and pushed her against the opposite wall. "What the hell!?"_ _The brunette gasped in surprise as she felt her breath leave her lungs and not return._

" _What's going on?" He demanded. "What aren't you telling me, Lauren? You know I hate secrets."_ _His teeth gritted together and his mouth smelt like an old cigar._

 _Emily sucked air back into her lungs as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out the pink and white stick. "I wasn't keeping a secret Ian." She watched his eyes widened as he stared at the plus sign, then a smile spread across his lips before turning back to Emily and kissing her roughly pushing her harder against the wall. "This is great Lauren!" He explained when their lips separated. "When do you think-?"_

" _During our makeup session." Emily tried to smile. "The irony huh?"_

 _Ian's eyes darkened, it was a cold joke and he didn't appreciate that. "You aren't thinking about terminating it are you?"_

" _No! God no!" She yelled as blood rushed to her cheeks "I am not, I promise."_

" _We should go tell Declan." Emily couldn't help but swoon when she saw Ian make that face. It wasn't the scary man in charge face, it was the honest and loving person she knew he was deep down the person she only got to see when it was just the two of them alone._

 _As Ian turned to go down the hallway Emily fell back down to earth and grabbed his arm. "I'm not that far along yet… We should wait just a little longer, okay?" She pleaded._

" _You think something might happen?" The sincere and concerned face he made had Emily remembering why she loved him and why she regretted the real reason she didn't want to tell Declan about his new sibling._

 _She stroked his arm and smiled gently making sure she was clear. "We aren't spring chickens Ian, things happen sometimes and it's best to take precautions."_

 _Ian's eyes pierced into hers as if trying to detect anything that said she was lying. Finally, they softened and he took her into his arms. "I love you." He whispered into her ear._

" _I love you too Ian_ _."_

Emily arrived at work the next day completely exhausted. Connie had spiked a fever and had spent the night in tears not much different than Emily had. As much as she loved her little girl being a single parent was hard. She walked over to her desk and slumped her newly packed go bag onto her desk before looking around the bullpen finding it empty of her teammates. Reid was probably in JJ's office but where was Morgan?

She walked over the catwalk to Garcia's office. Knocking gently as she opened the door, Emily found her friend slumped over the computer desk and it sounded like she was crying. "PG?" Prentiss whispered. "Are you okay?"

The tech analysts shot straight up and spun her chair around wiping the running mascara off of her face. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm good!" She lied.

Emily pulled out and extra chair and parked it next to Garcia. "Is it about Morgan?"

Garcia sighed before nodding her head. "I know it's weird because he totally has the right to privacy but I wish he told me. I mean I know why he didn't tell me but I thought he would you know? I thought we shared everything... I just hate the fact that that creep Carol Buford ever hurt him." Emily only nodded along. "And he's taking time off until after New Years! We have yearly plans on Boxing Day and he's missing them! It's great that he's spending time with his family but I'm his family too and he's mine!" The tears started to trickle down her cheeks again.

Emily reached over taking her friend's hand. "If you want you can spend Christmas with JJ, Connie, Reid, and I? We aren't doing much just a small dinner and maybe some movies."

Emily could see the smile peeking through Garcia's pursed lips. "Do JJ and Reid really think no one knows they're dating?"

At this point, both girls burst into laughter. "I think they're waiting for the right moment to, in turn, tell everyone." Emily managed to get out between giggles.

The laughter slowly died down and surprisingly to Emily, Garcia reached over and captured her in a bear hug. It took her a minute, in turn, hugged her back. "I'd love to spend Christmas with you guys!"

The next few days travelled by slowly. Prentiss and JJ spent almost every night that week shopping for Christmas. JJ having a large extended family spent most of her time buying gifts, paying to have them wrapped, and then shipping them off all across the country. Emily had a list from her mother of people she had to buy for. The two spend hours looking for a gift for Hotch because Elizabeth Prentiss found out he was her daughter's new boss and insisted they got him something from her. They settled on an expensive tie collection and tie clips.

It was only two days before Christmas and the girls sat in a cafe surrounded by shopping bags while drinking their lattes. "Oh! I have a few gifts from Tsia for Connie." JJ smiled. "I'll give it to you on Monday."

Emily nodded taking a long sip. "My mother insisted on visiting for Boxing Day, she wants to shop for baby clothes. She refuses to listen when I tell her to shop for toddler things because Connie is out growing all of her clothes."

"They sure grow fast don't they?" JJ sighed as she rocked Connie in her arms. The little girl had started walking but talking was still a little ways away. "My brothers youngest just turned three last weekend, I haven't seen them in forever."

"What are they doing all the way out in London?" Emily asked. "It is a pretty big move when all of your family is here." Emily remembered what it felt like when her mother got moved from Washington to Paris the first time when Emily was just five. She felt like it was the end of the world and honestly it might of well have been. She never got to say goodbye to any of her friends and her grandfather died two months later breaking the young girls heart.

JJ nodded. "He's a music consultant for Stratford, it was a pretty big deal and they just up and moved. I thought my mom was going to lose her mind when they sent us that email."

"Maybe next year?" Emily tried to lighten up her friend's mood. "And maybe you can bring Reid." She smirked. JJ gasped then laughed before throwing a piece of muffin at her friend.

Emily woke up Christmas Day to the sounds of her daughter screaming from up against the crib. Groaning Emily threw back the blankets and walked from her room to the yellow bedroom across the hall. "Couldn't you have just slept in?" She sighed. "We don't need to be at JJ's for a few more hours."

The baby shook her head and shot her mother a slobbery toothy grin. "Your father would have loved to see this-" Emily caught herself too late. _"Why am I thinking about him?"_ She asked herself. _"He has no relevance in her life!"_ And yet she imagined his face watching his daughter take her first steps, watching her drool all over herself and attempt to feed herself. "Let's go get you some yummy breakfast."

The Prentiss' arrived at JJ's half an hour earlier than they were supposed to, the day was just going by too slow and Emily just wanted to go back to bed. She knocked on the door and heard scrambling from the other side, it was almost sounded like someone else was in the apartment from all of the noise. "Just a second!" JJ's voice called then what sounded like a pot bang against the floor before the door was yanked open. "Hi!" JJ said chipper. "You're early."

"We were bored at home." Emily confessed. "Do you need any help?" The brunette asked poking her head into the apartment and seeing the huge mess of food in the kitchen. Pots were boiling over, something smelt like it was burning and milk was spilt all over the counter.

JJ looked around her house before nodding and letting her friend in. "You can set up the playpen in the living room then help me in the kitchen please." She tried to play it off as a suggestion not a beg.

After twenty minutes of fighting with the evil contraption Emily finally had the playpen set up and laid her daughter in it before walking into JJ's kitchen and seeing the whole thing look like it was about to blow up. "What happened here?" She asked eyeing the orange pot that looked like it held brown sludge from the local park.

JJ turned around and gave her friend a sheepish smile. "I can do a lot of things Emily; I work for the FBI, I can shoot a gun, and make Lauren Reynolds completely disappear off the face of the earth…. But I can't seem to cook." The blonde stated before the potatoes started boiling over.

Emily jumped to the stove and turned the burner down before stirring them. "Well it's a good thing I am here then."

After slaving away for half an hour Emily had finally managed to save dinner while JJ set the table with red and green coloured everything from the plates to the candles.

Right on time a knock sounded on the door and JJ opened it. "Spence, Pen!" She smiled before hugging her best girlfriend.

"Peaches your home is so beautiful!" The tech analyst gleamed as she wandered around the living room. "It looks a lot like you." Garcia commented looking over at the stacks of BAU files sitting on her ottoman.

JJ sent her friend a weird look before smiling. "My land lord tells me that too." She joked.

Garcia gave her another quick hug before heading into the rest of the house to find Connie.

Emily stepped out of the hallway as Spencer walked in and gave JJ a quick hug and pecking her on the cheek before blushing and turning to walk down the rest of the hallway. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed Emily standing at the end of the hall with a Cheshire smile on her face.

Reid's blushed got darker as he tried but stammered his words. "I- uh, I was just gre- greeting JJ... To- to be polite..."

Emily nodded as she walked closer and uncrossed her arms. "Do I get a kiss them Spencer? As a greet?"

JJ watched the two and tried not to laugh as Spencer looked back and forth between the two women. "She knows Spence, and I think Pen does too."

Spencer let out a long breath and let the red drain from his cheeks. "I thought we were keeping it a secret Jayge?" JJ could see a pout forming on his lips.

"They figured it out sweetie." JJ laughed walking over to Reid and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Honestly I would be kind of worried if the team didn't figure it out, being profiler's and all." She teased. "Now you can greet me with a real hello." She smirk before kissing him.

Emily laughed before rolling her eyes and walking back into the living room where she found her daughter and Garcia sitting on the floor playing patty-cake.

"Mark it with a C!" Penelope laughed as the little girl smiled and shrieked with amusement. "Put it in the oven for Connie and me!"

Connie continued to laugh and clap her hands even after the game had ended. She saw her mother walk in and tired to show her the new game. "Hi baby." Emily smiled as she sat on the ground with the two girls. "Did Penny show you a new game?" Connie nodded as she grabbed her mothers hand and smacked hers against it before continuing to laugh sparking Penelope and Emily's laughter.

"Where are JJ and Little G?" The colourful blonde asked after the laughter faded.

"Making out at the door." Emily whispered. "JJ finally told Spencer that we all knew so he's a little better with PDA but probably not that much though as it was JJ who initiated it."

Pen rolled her eyes but smiled. "Young love isn't it adorable?"

"Yeah." Emily replied, "I haven't seen JJ this happy since she was fooling around with Frankl-"

Emily was cut off by JJ entering the room and declaring it dinner time. The group including Connie in her highchair sat at the table to enjoy a lovely dinner made by JJ and fixed by Emily. "So I've decided to skip grace because we all have our ideals and beliefs which is fine." JJ smiled to her friends as she lifted a wine glass. "But I would like to make a toast to all of my lovely friends." Everyone lifted their glasses in response. "I am thankful that you are all here today to help me celebrate the holidays. The holidays have never been an easy time for me but I'm glad I get to share them with the people I love." The dinner guests smiled brightly and Connie shrieked as she mashed her peas and potatoes together. "That's my queue to stop talking." JJ smiled, "Lets eat!"

The festivities travelled on late into the night. After dinner the group of co-workers and friends settled down in the living room for a few movies and treats while Connie napped peacefully in her playpen.

JJ and Reid were snuggled together on the love-seat, Emily in the Lay-z-boy, and Garcia was sprawled out on the matching couch. After their third movie Its a Wonderful Life ended the group decided to call it a night.

Each of them had their own reasons for not returning home for Christmas that they didn't share that night but they were happy to know that their friends supported them and were willing to spend their holidays together.

Garcia left first wishing everyone a Merry Christmas before hugging them and leaving. Emily and Connie left next taking home majority of the left overs and the haul of presents everyone bought for the little girl. "You really didn't have to." Emily laughed as she put another package into Spencer's arms as he offered to help Em carry everything to her car.

"It's not all from me." JJ smiled, "Garcia went a little crazy," She averted her eyes to watch as Reid walked towards the elevator. "A lot is from Tsia... a few are from Clyde." She giggled. "He seems to have a soft spot for babies. Or just your babies." JJ smirked before hugging friend and kissing Connie on the cheek. "Have fun with your mom on Wednesday."

Emily groaned before letting out a weak smile. "We're going to some restaurant in Washington because the house has too many fragile items for a baby."

"You'll be fine Em. Just smile and be polite."

"Always am." Emily smiled before hugging her friend one last time and headed to the elevators.

Reid and Emily made their way to the parking garage and loaded the car up to the brim with gifts for the child. "Do you need a ride home?" Prentiss asked. "I know you came with Garcia-"

Spencer blushed making Emily stop talking. "I... I'm staying here tonight and a few extra days. T-Then we're heading to Vegas for New years."

Emily smiled at her young friend. "Don't you two stay up too late okay?

Spencer blushed a deeper red for the second time that day. "Goodnight Emily." He whispered.

"Goodnight Spence."

Reid found his way back upstairs and into JJ's apartment. He called out for her before wandering further into the apartment and down a second hallway towards JJ's bedroom. "Jayge?" He called quietly from the other side of the closed door.

"In here Spence." She answered.

Spencer entered the room slowly and let out a gasp when he saw the room. The blinds were pulled so the only light was coming from the tens of candles JJ lit and spread around the room. The blonde was dressed in a Santa inspired lingerie; a bright red bra and pantie set with fluffy trimming and a Santa hat to match. "Merry Christmas Spence."

The young genius made his way into the rest of the room in a just a few long strides before he cupped JJ's face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Both of their anxieties of the night ahead lifted as they pulled apart and looked into each others eyes. "Merry Christmas JJ."

It wasn't the first time Reid had seen JJ down to this little clothing but it was the first time they had considered going all the way. Spencer had spent the day worried about tonight; worried he wasn't going to be good enough for her and JJ wouldn't want to be with him again. He knew JJ was not that kind of girl but it was a recurring nightmare. He wasn't a virgin but he hadn't had much experience.

"Spence," JJ whispered as he pulled her lips away from his and started to unbutton his shirt. "Relax, I want you to enjoy this okay?"

Spencer nodded before taking her lips again and running his hands up and down her hips.

JJ pushed his hands away as she pushed his shirt off his shoulders onto the bed before pushing her boyfriend down on top of it. She then straddled his lap grinding softly as she roamed her hands over his torso.

He wasn't ripping with muscles but JJ didn't mind she was loving everything about him. She gasped when Spencer's hands found their way to her bottom and squeezed her cheeks. "Someone is eager." JJ teased as she grinded harder into Spencer's member making him moan from underneath her. JJ moved her hands from his torso and used them to unbutton his chords. Lifting herself with her thighs JJ lost contact with Reid's body just long enough to pull his pants and underwear down to his knees. When she lowered herself back down again Spencer's hands moved up her back pulling her towards him.

He captured her lips in a long opened mouth kiss as he trembled with the clasps on her bra. Once it was released Reid pulled the straps down her arms and flung it somewhere in the room behind him. His one hand went right back to where the bra had been and the other tangled itself in JJ's glowing blonde hair.

JJ pulled away and pulled her panties down kicking them off onto the floor. The rest of the night had been filled with moans, caresses, sweet words, pleasure, and a surprise 'I love you.'

Spencer had fallen asleep not long after the sex had ended but JJ stayed awake staring at the ceiling. The blanket was tightly wrapped around them and Spencer was curled up around JJ as the big spoon.

JJ couldn't help but think about what Spencer had said after he was lowered from his high, " _I love you."_

Most women would be over the roof excited to hear their boyfriend say that to them but JJ felt scared. It was that moment she realized how serious she and Spencer were getting. She wanted so badly to be able to be that serious with Spencer, she wanted to get to know everything about him, spend every waking moment of everyday with him but she knew it couldn't happen. Getting close to him could put him in a lot of danger and she could never forgive herself if Spencer got hurt.

 **AN: Almost 4000 words! Look at me go! Please leave a review if you'd like!**


	5. Chapter 5

It took a lot for JJ to pack her bags and head to the airport with Spencer. There had been tension the last few days when JJ hadn't reciprocated those three words.

The entered the gate to the plane to Vegas and seated themselves in the hard plastic chairs waiting for their flight number. Spencer had his hands pushed deep into his pockets and JJ was playing around on her phone. They had slept together a few more times after that night but JJ could tell Spencer wasn't having as much fun as she did that night.

Pulling her from her thoughts was the annoying sound of her phone going off. JJ checked the caller ID before shaking Spencer's shoulder, "I'll be right back." She told him before leaning over to kiss his cheek and walking away.

"Jareau," She answered once she was out of her boyfriend's eyesight.

" _Agent Jareau," the man replied, "this is Director Biggs from the NCIS."_

JJ groaned internally at his reply. This was the fourth time some government official called her this month for some request. Apparently, after Lauren Reynolds disappearance everyone wanted her help. Which made absolutely no sense because no one was supposed to know of Lauren Reynolds, so how do they?

"Sir please," JJ responded. "I am on vacation with my boyfriend I would rather not get involved-"

" _You're on your way to Las Vegas correct?"_ The director asked shocking JJ.

"Y-Yes." she replied.

" _I will send an agent from the area to meet you at your hotel at two PM. Please do not keep him waiting agent."_

JJ angrily hung up the phone and walked back over to Spencer. "Sorry," she stated as she sat back down. " I forgot to forward my work calls to the office."

Spencer didn't look up or even acknowledge that JJ was sitting next to him again instead he was fiddling with his hands looking nervous. "Spence," JJ asked raising her hand to cup his cheek and turn his face towards her. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

Spencer shook his head. "The doctors from my mother's home called while you were over there." He sucked in a breath. "She's having a rough day and they said it wasn't a good idea for me to bring a guest."

For a brief second JJ wondered if Spencer was lying to her? Was he that angry with her that he didn't want her to be apart of his trip?

"I can stay by the pool today," JJ answered a little too quickly. "You can go and make sure your mom is okay and I will go swim for a bit. Then we can go and meet up for some dinner?"

Spencer nodded before pushing his head forward to lean against JJ's. For a second JJ felt her world stopped, for a second everything felt okay.

Once the plane finally landed the couple headed straight to their hotel to change for the day. The awkward silence was killing JJ. She knew all she had to say was 'I love you' but that didn't seem fair. It wasn't fair for either of them, she didn't mean and it would hurt Spencer because he knew she wouldn't have meant it.

Spencer came out of the bathroom dressed more comfortably for the Vegas air. He was wearing shorts and a polo along with a pair of shades and his high tops. JJ pulled out her swimsuit and placed it on the bed before turning around to face him. "We need to talk." She spoke softly before grabbing his arm. "Don't be nervous it is just something I need to say."

Spencer nodded and walked closer to her leaving a little distance between them. "Are you breaking up with me?" He whispered.

JJ felt her heart break into tiny shattered pieces. "No," she stated firmly. "I don't want us to break up and I don't want their to be tension in our relationship anymore. I care about you too much to do that to you." She dropped her hand from his arm and wrapped hers around his waist pulling him closer. "Just because I haven't said I love you yet doesn't mean I won't one day, okay?" She waited for Spencer to answer but he never did. "I am just not at the same place in our relationship; that's okay sometimes Spence. It's okay because I am not pretending to be in the same place and I am not shaming you for being further along in our relationship. Communication is key."

JJ gasped in surprise as Spencer laid his head to rest gently on her should. He inhaled her scent for a moment giving her neck a light kiss. "I'll wait." He whispered. "I will wait until you are ready for me."

JJ tilted her head to the side to meet his lips for a soft kiss. "I'm happy I met you."

Spencer had left soon after to meet his mother at Benningtons leaving JJ ten minutes until she had to meet the informant. She changed into her swimsuit and added a cover over top along with a sunhat and flip-flops. She rushed down the stairs after grabbing her towel and sunglasses towards the pool side where she found a man in a business suit and dark shades monitoring the pool surroundings.

JJ groaned internally, weren't these guys supposed to be super secretive? JJ started her way over to the man by passing the lounge chairs when she was stopped by someone calling out her name.

"Jennifer! Over hear dear!" The woman called waving her hand and pointing to an empty chair. "They were filling up fast and I just had to grab the pool side chairs." Her red hair was tied back in a messy pony tail and her sunglasses were bigger than her face.

JJ quickly made her way over and slumped into the chair. "What a surprise running into you here Evan." JJ greeted the woman. The cryptic email she was sent on the plane explained that JJ would be meeting Special agent Evan Dillard. Whom she though was a man.

"Those business types," Evan laughed. "They wear suits as if their lives depended on it." Even reached into her large bag and pulled out what looked to be a photo album. "I brought pictures of the kids dear. Tyler and Francis have just grown so very big." JJ could detect a hint of southern accent.

"It's been so long since I've seen them," JJ replied as she opened the first page. Inside was a picture of a scary looking blond man with the name Tyler Francis written underneath.

"Tyler has gotten into toy fighting," Evan explained. "He hit little Angie last weak very hard and gave her a big bruise on her stomach." The redhead continued.

JJ flipped to the next page to find a picture of an Angela Charlton."Is she okay?" JJ asked.

"She's fine, safe with my husband Riggs at home. Problem in she's far from home." JJ looked oddly at the woman. "We are her foster parents right now, Angie's biological brother gave her up but she misses them sometimes. Tyler hasn't been taking well to her and tried to 'mail' her off." Evan's laughed playfully. "The little kid think you can just mail people around."

JJ flipped through some more pages and found that Angie was sold off to Francis by her brother about a year ago. Angie got free a few months ago and was found on a Navy boat, turns out Francis was selling her to men in several different countries using the American Navy's transport boats. Which was the reason why Angie wasn't sent to witness protection... they couldn't help her if Francis was inside the system.

JJ looked at the picture again, this girl couldn't be older than sixteen. "Why don't you go visit him?" JJ finally replied as she closed the photo album and put it back in Evan's bag. But I'd take a train, I know Angie has that irrational fear of planes crashing."

Evan nodded her head in response. "I'm sure she'd just love the train!"

"And last time I saw her she told me to call her Rebekah, you know, her middle name. Far too many Angela's in her class."

Evan nodded as she sat up in the chair and started to pack her things. "You know us, redheads. Too much sun makes us burn." She laughed. "Email me soon Jennifer dear, we should meet up again."

JJ nodded as she waved Evan off. "I will soon, don't you worry."

The sun was getting warmer so JJ tired to relax and let herself soak in the glorious Vegas rays. She rolled back and forth from her back to her stomach but couldn't seem to find a comfortable spot to lay. Sighing she took off her hat and cover followed by her shades before walking to the deep ends and diving into the glistening pool. After a few laps JJ felt that same uncomfortable feeling as when she was lounging in the chair.

The image of Angie would not leave her head. The girl was so beautiful and young, she had a whole life ahead of her and now she would have to spend it in fear of Tyler Francis.

The name Rebekah came to JJ instantly, it was the original name that she and Franklin were going to give Emily before they decided to return her to her old life. All the ID's, Social Insurance numbers, and birth certificate were ready all she had to do was get new pictures for everything.

The plan was set, Angie would die on a plane from Vegas to Florida. It would be small private plane she got on the get away from Tyler and it would crash taking four lives in total. They would have a cadaver waiting at the morgue when Tyler went searching and it would have pieces of Angie's hair so if a test is demanded they would have an answer. The cadaver would also hold the same birth mark as Angie had on her left wrist as well as the same jeans she ran away with.

That plan was set.

It was perfect.

Giving up on enjoying her free afternoon JJ emerged from the water and toweled off. She put her cover back on and headed back up to the hotel room. JJ dug around the hotel looking for her suitcase which was stashed under the bed and pulled out her laptop. Opening her e-mail she typed a quick letter saying; "it's started'. She hit send and closed the computer and flopped onto the bed.

Spencer returned to the hotel later that afternoon with two tickets in his hand and a lopsided smile on his face. He had gotten them tickets to a magic show and dinner for that night and he really hoped JJ would enjoy herself. When he had gone to see his mother he spent the whole time talking about JJ, how wonderful she is and how understanding and kindhearted she is. Diana was happy for her son for finding a women who cared about him and she hoped that this JJ would be the one.

Diana was a little frazzled at first when Spencer arrived, she had just reentered reality for the first time that day and her mind was whirling around grasping what it could. Seeing Spencer sitting across from her made her jump and think she was still in some type of space.

Spencer was gushing and smiling throughout the whole visit and Diana couldn't be happier.

Reid walked over to the bed and gently shook JJ until her eyes fluttered open. She yawned and did a cat like stretch before sitting up on the bed. "Spence, hi." She whispered rubbing her eyes. "How is your mom?"

"She's good." He nodded. "She was better when I got there so I told her about us."

JJ blushed, she didn't know why. Maybe it was because Spencer has actually told his mother about her. He really wanted his mother to know he was in a relationship...

JJ also felt a knotting feeling in her stomach. She hadn't even told her family about Spencer...

 **Christmas Day:**

" _ **I hope you are having an amazing day JJ, I wish you would have come to England with me and Aunt Gail." Sandy Jareau sighed on the other side of the phone.**_

" _I couldn't get away from work mom, you know that. How are the girls?"_

" _ **Amazing! We just finished celebrating Hannah's birthday and little Davy is speaking full sentences now."**_

 _JJ nodded and remembered her mom couldn't see her. "That's great to hear mom. Look I should go I have a guest-"_

" _ **Is it a boy?" Sandy cut her off.**_

 _JJ rolled her eyes and looked over at Spencer who was sitting on the couch looking over a book. "That's not important mom."_

 _ **Sandy groaned into the phone. "It's a simple yes or no Jennifer. You do not need to be rude-"**_

" _I'm not being rude mom, it is just none of your business!"_

" _ **It is never my business dear." Sandy snapped back. "I just want to know when I'm going to get some grandchildren from you."**_

 _JJ excused herself away from Spencer into her bedroom and closed the door. "Why don't you just ask if I'm happy? Why can't you just ask if work is going okay? Or if I'm up to anything interesting! It always turns into making sure you get what you want!"_

 _There was silence on the end of the line for what felt like hours._

" _ **Merry Christmas Jennifer."**_

 _JJ had felt horrible for how she acted over the phone but she couldn't bring herself to call her mother back and apologize and tell her all about Spencer and her fear of commitment. Instead she hide her cellphone under her pillow and walked back into the living room._

The return to work was brutal! The piles of paper work had buried JJ solid for hours causing her to miss lunch.

Spencer entered her office as she was in the middle of reading a horrific file. He placed the sandwich down on her desk and pulled up a wooden chair to sit with her. "It's not good for you to skip meals JJ." Reid informed her as she grabbed the sandwich again and unwrapped it for her.

"Spence, I'm not hungry," JJ stated as she flipped through a few more pages. "I can't eat after reading this." She took the sandwich and placed on the desk before handing over to file to her boyfriend.

Spencer looked it over and felt his stomach coming back up. "I think you should go see Hotch."

JJ had the team assembled in no time talking over idea's and theories. "1996, a rib cage of a male in the Desert Rose National Park, never identified. This morning the remains of two victims were found in almost exactly the same area."JJ explained as she changed through the pictures on the TV screen.

Emily started reading further into the file. "Well one year later is cause for concern, but ten years? That could be a coincident." She pointed out knowing right away she was wrong.

"It would be if the unidentified male wasn't missing a right rib bone." Reid pointed out as he walked around the table. He had already read the file with JJ so he knew the answer to that already.

"The corps they found this morning was missing the exact same bone," Hotch added still reading.

"Both of them seem to be surgically removed. The advanced decomposition on the male means he died long before the female." Reid told everyone picking up the file again.

"Oh, uh, Katherine Hale," JJ added knowing the team in a rush would skip over personally identifying the victim. "They found a bracelet on her wrist. She ran away about two weeks ago from a small Colorado town." The blonde sighed.

"Crossing State lines means he's mobile," Hotch informed the team ignoring JJ.

"Remains are related to the same killer, where's he been for ten years?" Morgan spoke up now after finishing the file.

"Killing." Gideon stated entering the room with a box. "Unsolved case files going back ten years. Every cases victimology is the same. There's more." He added to the teams shocked look. "This box it just the tip of the iceberg. Thirteen cases spanning thirty years, same MO. Right rib bone is missing. It's the same Hotch, it's the same killer."

"All the remains were dumped in remote areas. And always near interstate eighty. And up till now no remains were this intact or close to the time of actual kill were found." Hotch replied.

"Every two victims were dumped at the same time... In the same place," Gideon concluded.

"All of these killings are the work of just one man?" Emily looked horrified at the stack of filed on the table. She had seen some horrible thing with Doyle... but this was terrible!

"Most prolific serial killer ever." Gideon had a dead look in his eye.

As JJ mapped out the victim's locations she felt sicker and sicker not just mentally but physically.

"Hey, peaches are you okay?" Garcia asked turning to look at her friend. "You look a little pale."

JJ nodded as she stuck another tack into the map. "Yeah, Spence got me a sandwich from the cafeteria... I think it was left out too long."

"Oh." Garcia cringed. "That is why you always bring a lunch from home buttercup. The FBI is trying to kill you."JJ rolled her eyes and stuck in another pin rather harshly causing Garcia to look at her funny. "Are you okay sweetie?"

JJ nodded as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I'm late," she whispered.

Garcia's eyes widened. "Like late late? Or a few days late?"

"About a week... So I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet. We've only been together for two months and now really isn't a good time..." Earlier that morning JJ had received a call from Evan asking her to take a trip down to the NCIS headquarters to go over the plane to get Angie to safety.

Garcia stood up from her desk and rushed to hug her friend tight. "This is so exciting! Take that test as soon as you get a chance then call me! When this case is over."

Garcia's happiness was quickly overruled when the team informed them of the wind chime made out of human rib bone. The case just kept getting worse and worse as time went on. Sheriff George went missing, Gideon's interrogation, the missing children, and last but not least Frank and Crazy Jane were free to roam wherever they wanted to go. This left the team feeling afraid for American... Would he kill again? And it was entirely their fault.

When the team emerged from the plane they were met by JJ and Garcia. They were all exhausted and ready to head home. As soon as Spencer reached the tarmac he was greeted by JJ throwing her arms round his neck hugging him close. "Are you okay?" She whispered.

He nodded and he leaned his nose against her head. "I'm fine," he whispered back. "But I don't know about Gideon."

The couple looked up to see Hotch trying to talk to the senior agent but Gideon just seemed to blow him off and walk to his car. JJ turned her head to see Emily and Morgan making light conversation as they walked off the plane.

"My mocha twelve pack!" Garcia exclaimed as she rushed past the rest of the team as fast as her heels could carry her. Once she reached Derek he pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head.

"How are you, baby girl?"

Garcia let out a strangled moan as she hugged him tighter. "I'm fine, what about you? This is why I stay in my tiny office! I don't have to see anything bad. I couldn't bare the thought of going through all of that."

Derek pulled Garcia away from him slightly to look into her eyes. "We couldn't have done it without you, we never can."

JJ smiled at the couple as she walked dragging Spencer by the hand until she reached Emily. "What about you?" The blonde asked. "Are you okay?" It felt like an over repeated question at this point.

Emily smiled nodding her head. "I just need to get home to Connie that's all."

JJ nodded in understanding before letting go of Spencer's hand to hug her friend. "I'll call you later."

The Media Liaison sat on the floor of her apartment bathroom starring down at the small pregnancy stick she has just peed on minutes before. Time seemed to whisk by slowly and it made JJ mad.

Giving on on watching the pot and waiting for a boil, JJ stood up and headed out into her living room. On the way she walked past her bedroom to see Spencer sound asleep under the covers. Normally he was the one to be wide awake going over consults on working on his latest degree but instead he kissed JJ goodnight and fell right asleep. It was nice seeing him like this, seeing him actually resting in a dreamless slumber.

Just as JJ settled herself with a cup of tea on the couch the timer on the phone went off telling her the test was ready. Heading back to the bathroom JJ pondered on what she really wanted the test to say. Thinking she mad up her mind JJ lifted the test and looked at the lines, "Fuck..." she whispered.

Agent Hotchner was working late in his office one night when he was visited by Erin Strauss. She looked her usual angry business casual self even for a late night visit.

" Aaron," Erin greeted her somewhat employee. "I would like to have a word with you about your team."

Hotch rubbed the bridge of his nose and he used his other hand to gesture to the seat in front of his desk. "Of course Strauss, what do I owe the pleasure?" He didn't like the woman but he didn't have to be rude to her.

Strauss pulled out a file from her purse and placed it on the desk in front of her. "I have received a call from Thomas Betro," Hotch raised an eyebrow. "He is asking for a temporary transfer for agent Jareau. Apparently, she isn't playing along as willing as he would of hoped."

"Playing along with what?" Hotch asked looking concerned. Was this what JJ was warning him about?

Erin pushed the file closer to Hotch. "It doesn't matter Aaron, I just need you to sign these forms."

Hotch took the file but he did not open it. "I am not sending JJ away against her will Erin."

"You don't really have a choice. When the NCIS asks for someone you give her to them."

Hotch knew he was beaten. He just hoped JJ didn't hate him for it. The transfer didn't start until February 7th and she would return by the 27th. He signed the papers and handed them back to Strauss.

"I told you, Aaron," Strauss started as she stood up and headed to the door. "Hiring that girl was not worth it."

* * *

 **AN: Wow! That is a lot for once chapter! And the longest one yet I think! But don't worry the next one will be even better! And don't forget to review!**

 **Updates might be less frequent because school has started again and I decided to take two English courses in the same semester... so yeah. And I'm starting my manuscript for my original novel :) yay! If anyone is interested in hearing about it PM me and maybe we can bounce some idea's off each other?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, I heard there was a secret chord**

 **That David played and it pleased the Lord**

 **But you don't really care for music, do you?**

JJ lay on her back in her comfortable queen size bed staring up at the ceiling following the tile lines all around the room. Spencer was curled up against her his left hand looped in her right resting on her stomach as his lips kissed up and down her neck as his right hand supported his head.

"We should stay in bed all day," JJ whispered not moving her eyes from the lines. "We don't have to go out tonight."

She felt Spencer's lips leave her neck as she sat up a little more. "We have had this planned for a while Jayje, this will be the first time we've seen the team since Golconda. You love football anyways."

JJ nodded she couldn't bare to look at him. "And don't you have a meeting with Hotch anyways?"

That was what she was most afraid of doing today. She knew exactly what that meeting was about and she knew what it would mean for her. "I just want to spend our last day off together... I wanted to do something special so we could talk." She finally ripped her eyes away from the yellowing tile and into Spencer's eyes that looked so happy to see her. She could lose herself for hours staring into the hazel orbs. His whole life hid behind those eyes and she couldn't wait to uncover the secrets they held.

"We can talk now." Spencer offered. "We have time until you have to leave."

JJ let go of her hand from Spencer's and took his wrist and moved his hand to her thigh. "I don't want to talk right now."

Quickly catching on Spencer shifted his body moving move his leg over JJ's body and straddle her hips. His hand reached up her long shirt that was originally his at some point last night and slid her underwear down her legs until it was far enough down for her to kick it off. "You can't keep changing the subject with sex Jennifer," Spencer spoke softly as his hands started to massage her thighs. When he was replied to with a moan he rolled his eyes and continued moving his hands up higher and higher until he reached her sensitive nub and used a rough single finger to gently circle it making JJ squirm under him.

"Don't mess around." She whined. "You know I hate that."

"Seeing how your body reacts to it, I would say you rather enjoy it," Spencer replied cockily as he replaced his finger with his thumb and slowly entered his fingers into her. She felt tight and warm, welcoming his familiar hand.

"Spence-" JJ moaned again.

He knew JJ wasn't messing around now, she was close and he needed to be ready. Using his free hand Spencer pulled down his pajama pants as far as they could go and readied himself.

 **Well it goes like this:**

 **The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift**

 **The baffled king composing Hallelujah**

JJ walked out of the Bureau elevator later that day towards Hotch's office. She had received call after call from Evan after she sent over the computer files and just wanted to be left alone. They had no reason to take her away from her team to complete this mission it made no sense! She didn't even knock when entering her boss's office she just barged in to find Hotch and Strauss sitting in the room, they did not even look like they were in mid-conversation when she marched in.

"I'm not leaving. JJ stated crossing her arms as she moved away from the door. I don't care if it's only for a few weeks, I am not leaving my team Strauss and you can't force me to."JJ could see that Hotch was trying to hide a smile behind his still face.

"You agreed to all transfers Jareau when you signed onto an Interpol recovery task force," Strauss answered back. Hotch's eyes widened.

JJ rolled her eyes. "I never signed a contract!"

"You didn't have to! You belong to them now and every other government agency that requires your service. Including the NCIS! You will report to their office when you are asked with a pleasant smile because you are still representing the FBI!" Strauss's voice was getting louder and angrier. "It was not a one time offer nor will it ever be. You are messing with the big dogs now Jareau and I suggest you learn how to keep up or you will get eaten alive!" Without missing a beat or saying any form of goodbye, Strauss turned on her heels and marched out of the door.

 **Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...**

"Face forward and be careful! Want to look back and check your wallet." Emily called over her shoulder towards Derek as she was walking up to the table where the team was holding drink refills.

Morgan who was dancing with a group of loosely clothed women laughed, "It's all right, I'll be a broke, happy man!"

The group at the table laughed as they cheered their drinks and took a sip, "how are they treating you at the B.A.U., Emily?" Haley Hotchner asked the newest member of the team.

"She means, am I being nice to you?" Hotch laughed as his arm wrapped around his wife's waist.

Emily swallowed her drink in one gulp and tried to smile. Her little crush on Hotch had been getting very annoying lately. Even worse hos wife was talking and asking her questions. It was a small attraction to her boss so Emily wasn't jealous of Haley or anything, no, she felt guilty of having romantic thoughts about her boss when he was married with a child. Not everyone got stuck in single parenthood like her... "Actually, everyone has been incredibly nice."

The brunette answered honestly not mentioning her and Hotch's crossroads.

Thankfully Garcia's dirty comment about Morgan moved everyone away from the original conversation. "Look at him move. It's like a cat."

"More like a dog!" Emily shouted over the music.

 **Well your faith was strong but you needed proof**

 **You saw her bathing on the roof**

"He did not ask them to dance. They asked him!"

"Ok."

"Ok, he's a cat."

Hotch smiled at his teammate's antics before taking his wife's hand. "Come on, Haley, let's go show them how it's done."

Haley slipped off her bar stool, "Oh! Game if you are!"

"Push it to the limit that is so sweet." Emily cooed watching the happy couple.

Penelope hopped up from her seat, "I'm going to the loo. Do not let anyone steal my seat."

"I'll guard it with my life."

Across the bar, JJ and Reid were enjoying themselves with some friends JJ had invited. "Oh! Another one bites the dust!" JJ raised her arms in triumph from winning another round.

 **Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya**

"How did you get so good at this?" Dixson asked he had called JJ a few days ago asking if she had plans for the Superbowl. Already promising Spence and the team to go out with them, JJ invited him and Rydell along.

"Where I grew up, darts was like a national sport," JJ explained. "We were too small for even a bowling alley."

Rydell laughed taking a sip of his beer and grabbing the darts from the board. "Can anyone else imagine a fourteen-year-old JJ smuggling money from grown ass men in a bar?"

Dixson joined in laughing while JJ just rolled her eyes. "A short jean skirt and a plaid shirt tied just above her belly button as well as cowboy boots."

"You're a bunch of frat boys," JJ said as she ripped their beers from their hands and placed them on a tray as a waitress walked by. "You're drunk, and I have a boyfriend so keep the fantasies to yourself."

"Why aren't you drinking? You can drink us all under the table! And He better be treating you right Barbie, or we're coming after him." Dixson smiled at his friend. JJ knew he had a thing for her, everyone in the office could tell but JJ never wanted to mix business and pleasure... not until she met Spencer.

 **She tied you to her kitchen chair**

 **She broke your throne and she cut your hair**

"He loves me." Was JJ's reply before her work phone started to ring. "Saved by the bell." She mumbled before making her way out of the bar. She paced Spence on the way and she watched him for a second enjoying himself with some former teammates from Missing Persons.

 **And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah**

"I will not peddle flesh. I'm a physician. Now Drink!" Spencer cheered. JJ smirked as she leaned down to kiss his forehead before answering her phone and heading out the bar door.

 **Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...**

"Um, have the police fax over everything they have so far. I'll take care of the notifications, most everyone's here with me. Thank you."

 **Baby, I've been here before**

 **I've seen this room and I've walked this floor**

"You all right? What? You seem unhappy" Reid asked his mentor as Gideon looked around the bedroom.

"I am unhappy. Tired of people using religion to justify the terrible things they do." Gideon confessed.

Spencer nodded. "JJ does too. We talked about it before." Gideon raised his eyebrow at his protege. "Although she hated kid cases the most religious ones bother her too. Although she is not a practicing Christian she still keeps certain traditions and thoughts. Not that using religion to justify is only available to those of religion. It's just something that bothers her... Like you."

Gideon patted Reid's shoulder. "That's good. That you're listening to her. But you really need to look at her."

Reid looked confused before following his boss around the room.

 **I used to live alone before I knew ya**

"Hi, Mr. Hankle?" JJ greeted the man at the door.

"Um yeah?" Tobias squeaked out.

"Mr. Hankle? I'm agent Jareau, this is agent Reid. We are with the F.B.I"

"May we come in?" JJ asked hopefully, she had a strange feeling about this place and she wanted to leave.

"Um I'm sorry, I don't let anyone in the house," Tobias answered timidly.

"Actually, I, uh, really have to, um you know, go?" Spencer spoke up waddling from side to side.

" You do?" JJ asked surprised

"For 30 minutes," Reid replied he didn't want to stop on the way over. He was looking at JJ just like Gideon had told him too and he noticed JJ's discomfort.

"Why didn't you say something in the car?"

"Uh, do you mind? I'm sorry."

"My father doesn't like it." Tobias closed the door a little more.

"Your father? You're, like,30." Spencer earned a sharp look from JJ.

"At what age can one start disrespecting the wishes of their parents?" Spencer was taken aback by that comment. His body relaxed when JJ placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You witnessed something a few months ago, that might be very helpful to us," JJ explained.

"I did?"

"You saw someone go over a wall into a yard, you called the police?" Spencer continued for his girlfriend.

"Me?"

"You didn't? Sorry." JJ gave Reid a confused look and he just shrugged back.

"Is there another Tobias Hankle here?"

"Just me and my father. Charles." The door was being pushed close some more.

"There's a report on file that lists you as calling 9-1-1." JJ was starting to get really annoyed.

"Please... Just leave." Tobias told them not asked before slamming the door in their face.

The couple walked down the two steps to the path to the car. "Why bother calling the police in the first place if later you're just going to pretend you didn't?"

"To gauge the response time." Reid was suddenly connecting all of the dots. If you were going to kill somebody, but you wanted to call the police first, what would you need to know?

"How long it takes them to get there." Spencer took off into a sprint around the side of the house. "Reid! Get back here!

"He's the unsub JJ!" Suddenly Tobias burst through the back door of the house and ran down the small hill. "He's in the barn! Come on!"

JJ barely had time to process what was going on before she was chasing Spencer down a hill to the barn. Spencer crouched down next to the barn and pulled JJ next to him. "He's in here."

Her mind was flustered! She saw her boyfriend's wheels turning in his head and knew he was seconds away from making a rash decision. "We should wait for Hotch." JJ urged pulling her gun out when she heard a noise.

"There's no time. He'll get away, it's better if we split up. You go in through the front and I'll head around back." JJ's breathing picked up. "Hotch knows where we are he'll come for us."

JJ took Spencer's hand and held it tight making him look at her in surprise. "I don't want anyone to get hurt, Spencer... Please. Stay."

 **And I've seen your flag on the marble arch**

Spencer looked longingly into her eyes before leaning forward and kissing her forehead. "We'll meet in the barn, okay? I'll go through the back door so that someone is on either side of him. I won't leave you."

The next moments passed by in a blur. JJ could remember entering the barn and being attacked by the rabid dogs. Her body defending her unborn child the best that it could. The faint images of claws and teeth scattered across her brain until she found herself hearing Emily's voice-over top of her.

 **And love is not a victory march**

"Hotch, she's still breathing." The voice spoke softly. "I think she's just unconscious."

"Load her into the ambulance and get her arm checked out." Hotch's voice ordered what JJ assumed here paramedics.

"We need bandages, and to test for rabies at the hospital!" One paramedic called to another.

"Is there any medical history we should know about?" The same paramedic asked the team.

Everyone looked from one person to the other and shrugged. JJ had never shared any of that information with any of them and there was nothing in her file according to Hotch.

Still able to hear what was going on but not strong enough to open her eyes JJ tried her hardest to get words out. "Pr-" her mouth was trying and her body was fighting against her to wake up fully."

"Everyone quiet!" Hotch ordered. "She's trying to talk!"

"Ba-" JJ tried again but the words still weren't coming out.

JJ felt someone take her hand. "We've got you Jayge, you'll be okay." Emily soothed.

Suddenly JJ's eyes shot open and the words poured from her mouth,"Baby!" she gasped out squeezing Emily's hand as hard as she could suddenly feel the pain her body was enduring and she let out a horrific scream.

"Oh God," Emily gasped squeezing her friend's hand back just as heard.

"Hotch!" she called.

He and Morgan had headed outside to look for Reid when Morgan walked into the barn alone. "What is it, Emily?" Hotch asked as he walked in. Looking around to see the paramedics radioing into the hospital with panicked micro expressions.

"JJ's pregnant sir," Emily informed him.

Hotch looked Emily in the eyes then flinched when the sounds of JJ's screams filled the barn. They all knew she could suddenly feel the gash missing from her arm. "We need to find Reid. Now!" The officers and Morgan headed back outside to check further out into the field.

"Prentiss you go with JJ to the hospital and let me know what's going on. I'll call Garcia and Gideon to get down here and I'll call you when we find Reid."

Emily nodded before squeezing her friend's hand again. "You'll be okay JJ, you'll all be okay."

 **It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah**

J _J had just finished getting ready for bed when she heard a quiet knock on the door. Looking at the clock on the wall she figured it wasn't too late have company. Grabbing the complimentary silk robe from behind the bathroom door JJ put it on and knotted the ties before unlocking the hotel door._

" _Hey," Franklin whispered leaning up against the door frame with a smirk on his face. "Mind if I come in?"_

 _JJ had two emotions fill her mind; fear and interest. "Sure, make yourself at home." She blushed. Franklin had kissed her earlier and it was amazing! So amazing she couldn't get the feel of his lips off of her's._

 _Sitting down at the end of JJ's queen size bed he kicked his shoes off and patted the bed for JJ to sit next to him. Obligating JJ sat on the bed wrapping her hands around her in comfort. As silly as it sounded at twenty-five this was the first time JJ had ever had a man in her room. Sure, she had sex before but it was never in her room... her safe place._

 _Franklin's hand on her leg dragged her from her thoughts. "I know I was probably too forward earlier. I just think you are beautiful." He smiled down at her looking into her bright blue eyes._

 _Her face heated up and her breath picked up in speed._

" _Uh, thanks..." She whispered._

" _Please don't freak out." He whispered as his other hand not on her knee cupped her cheek pulling her face up closer to his then pushed his lips heavily against her's while his other hand trailed further up her bathrobe._

 _JJ's brain kept screaming no but her body retaliated with yes! " Just relax," Franklin whispered in her ear as he pushed her back against the bed. "Enjoy yourself."_

 **There was a time when you let me know**

JJ gasped as her eyes fluttered open and air fully filled her brain and lungs. Her hand instinctively reached for her stomach feeling for a non-existent bump. "Sweetie you're okay." Emily shot out of her chair next to the bed and reached for her best friend's hand. "The baby is okay too." The blonde nodded before realizing there was a tube attached to her nose. On instinct, she reached for it to remove it. "Leave it in until the doctor sees's you."

JJ just continued to rub her stomach not completely believing her friend that everything was okay.

"They tried doing an ultrasound." This caught the liaison's attention. "You're not far enough along for a heartbeat test." Emily saw the panic irrupt in her friend's eyes. "But the doctor's promise me everything is okay. No rabies was found in the dogs, and you weren't bleeding from anywhere but your arm wound when we brought you in. No spotting, not even high blood pressure or high liver enzymes."

It didn't matter all the good news Prentiss was telling her JJ could still feel like there was something wrong. And the deep look in the blonde's eye told Emily the same thing. "You're okay we just... we can't find Spencer."

 **What's really going on below** **But now you never show that to me, do ya?**

" _Fuck!" JJ yelled as she paced around her bathroom. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"_

" _Woah! What's with the dark profanity in this house?" Emily called from the other room. "I came to enjoy a nice lunch with my good friend JJ and I'm treated to her dark side." The brunette made her way to the bathroom holding a two-month-old Connie and a large diaper bag. "What's going on Jayge?"_

 _The blonde didn't speak instead she thrust the object in her hand over to her friend. Gently taking it Emily found herself holding a pink and white pregnancy stick. Ignoring the fact that her friend had just peed on it, she checked the small screen to see two pink lines. Emily looked up at her friend in surprise, "I thought you said nothing happened after the football game?"_

 _JJ eyes filled with burning tears, "Nothing happened... It's not Spencer's."_

 _Emily looked at her friend in shock and wonder until it slowly sank in. "Oh my God, it's Andrew's!?"_

 **But remember when I moved in you**

 **And the holy dove was moving too**

 **And every breath we drew was Hallelujah**

 **Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...**

 **Maybe there's a God above**

 **But all I've ever learned from love**

 **Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya**

 **And it's not a cry that you hear at night**

 **It's not somebody who's seen the light**

 **It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah**

 **Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...**

 **Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...**

 **Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah**

 **Hallelujah, hallelujah**

"JJ," Spencer whispered into the dark room. "JJ!"

AN: Sorry this took so long I'm going through some school stuff and have decided to switch majors.. Again and some family and church stuff going on.

What would make me feel better though would be reviews! I haven't gotten some in a while I would really appreciate it! Maybe four or five?

See you guys next time!


	7. Chapter 7

After much intense persuasion, JJ and Emily convinced the doctor to let her leave and head back to the team. Changing back into the clothes she arrived in JJ started picking at the blood splatter on her blouse. "Do you think it will come out?" She asked.

Emily shrugged her shoulders while signing the last of the discharge papers. "We can get you changed back with the team. I brought an extra shirt out there."

The thoughts of going back to that demon house made the blonde shiver. "Any word on Spencer?"

* * *

Pulling the SUV's driver door open Emily shook her head. "We think Hankle took him. Garcia is flying in to try to hack the computers and we're going to start profiling."

"Welcome to out nightmare." JJ sighed as Penelope walked up the steps of the front porch.

Penelope rested her hand on her friend's shoulder for reassurance. "We'll find him peaches, don't you worry."

JJ suddenly felt her stomach churn and she ran back inside the house towards the bathroom. Dry heaving into the toilet she moved her gun off of the belt when she felt it poke into her stomach. Mentally she cursed herself for not bringing her go bag which had held her toothbrush. Flushing the toilet and standing up JJ stood over the sink and washed her mouth out with water. Spitting it out she heard a growl from behind her making her jump and check her surroundings in the mirror. There was an angry dog staring back at her showing off his teeth and slowly stepping forward. Silently JJ reached for her gun and swung around to come face to face with her best friend.

"Woah! Jayge! It's just me." Emily raised her hands in defense. "I brought you a new shirt." The brunette handed over a new purple blouse then stepped back.

JJ started unbuttoning her shirt but stopped when she took a good look at her bandaged arm. "Why doesn't any of this bother you?" JJ asked. She had some idea but was it really that bad with Ian that Emily couldn't flinch at the fact that one of her teammates was missing? Or at how graphic these murders were?

"What do you mean?" Emily asked giving her friend an odd look.

"You came off a desk job. Now suddenly you're in the field surrounded by mutilated bodies and you don't even flinch" JJ said noticing Hotch coming up behind her friend and changing the original answer she had.

"She's right, you've never blinked" Hotch spoke making the girls look at him.

"I guess maybe I compartmentalize better than most people" Emily replied giving her friend a sad look.

"What's going on?" JJ asked as she stormed into the computer room and kicked Hotch out of his chair next to Garcia.

"He's gone live," Garcia explained. "Only he's streaming just to his house computer."

"He want's us to see it," Gideon explained looking at Spencer through the monitor. "And just us."

"We have to find him!" JJ pleaded. "Please, Jason!"

"Reid, if you're watching, you're not responsible for this. You understand me. He's perverting God to justify murder. You are stronger than him. He can not break you." Gideon spoke forcefully into the webcam. "You need to be strong and pull through. You need to come home to JJ."

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be getting some rest?" Morgan asked the blonde who was sporting dark bags under her eyes.

"Everyone else is working... I should be too." JJ replied as she nursed the tea bag in her cup. "I just keep thinking that the one thing we need to crack this case is, well, Spence." Tears welled in her eyes and her voice started to quiver. "I need to be able to do something."

"Well, he's not here." Morgan sniped making JJ look up at him in shock. "He's in the hands of some mental unsub."

"You think I don't know that?" JJ answered repulsed by his words. "I want him back here more than you could ever imagine Morgan!"

Derek hung his head. "You two split up in the field, who does that?"

"So this is my fault? You think I wanted him to leave me?"

"It's not all about you JJ. You need to think about him. He wanted to look like the big tough guy in front of you and this is what happened." Derek pushed himself off of the counter. "Have you ever even thought about him in your relationship? About what he wants and what he feels?"

* * *

JJ felt a sob creep up the back of her throat. "You know nothing." She hissed before marching out of the room.

Emily wrapped her arms tightly around her best friend as JJ cried at the sight on the computer screen. Spencer's body lay on the ground still strapped into a chair and was convulsing.

Her breath stopped when Spencer stopped breathing and his body lay still for what felt like forever. As hard as Gideon and Hotch tried JJ refused to leave the room until she knew exactly what was going on with Spencer.

Soon the camera's turned on again. "Then choose one to die."

"What?" Spencer's eyes widened in panic.

"Your team members- choose one to die," Charles ordered.

"Kill me." JJ felt her heart melt as she watched him through the screen. Thoughts started to run through her mind. She didn't deserve him.

"You said you weren't one of them."

"I lied." She needed him to be here.

"Your team has 6 other members. Tell me who dies."  
"No."

"Choose and prove you'll do god's will." Tobias loaded a single bullet into the revolver and aimed it at Reid's head.

"No." He was too strong

Fire.

"Choose."

"I won't do it." Too brave.

Fire

"Life is a choice."

"No." Too selfless

Fire.

"Choose." She loved him.

JJ felt her heart stop... Was it only a five round gun? She prayed he chose her for leaving his side. For not saying she loved him back. For any reason to keep him alive!

"I-I choose Aaron Hotchner." Spencer made it seem like he admitted defeat the way his body language slumped. The whole team turned to watch as Hotch sat emotionless starting at the screen."He's a classic narcissist. He thinks he's better than everyone else on the team. Genesis 23:4. 'Let him not deceive himself and trust in emptiness, vanity, falseness, and futility, for these shall be his recompense in emptiness, vanity, falseness, and futility, for these shall be his recompense. For god's will'."

The screen went dead and Hotch burst from his chair into the other room with the team in tow. "I'm not a narcissist," Hotch told the team as he flipped through a bible

"Come on." Gideon sighed.

Hotch waved his hand over the bible. "Look."

"You can't think anything from that," Gideon replied. "He's not in his right mind, Hotch."

"Stop." JJ urged glaring at the senior agent. "What are you talking about Hotch."

"All right, .everybody right now- what's my worst quality? " The team avoided eye contact. "Ok, I'll start. I have no sense of humor."

"You're a bully," JJ answered next, she needed to know where this was going.

"I'm a bully," Hotch repeated.

"You can be a drill sergeant sometimes," Morgan added next.

"Right."

"You don't trust women as much as men," Emily concluded.

"Ok, good. I'm all these things, but none of you said that I ever put myself above the team, because I don't ever. Reid and I argued about the definition of classic narcissism, and he knew that I would remember that, and he also quoted genesis, chapter 23, verse 4. Read it.

"I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Give me property, forbear a place among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight." JJ read aloud.

"He wouldn't get it wrong unless it was on purpose." Hotch couldn't hold in his smile.

* * *

"He's in a cemetery." Morgan answered.

The team drove down to the cemetery and met with the police department. JJ grabbed a Kevlar and slipped it over her head.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gideon asked as he checked his gun. "You're not going in."

"One man versus six of us. Including the department! My odds are good." JJ defended crossing her arms. "I'm going out there to find him."

Gideon looked over to Hotch who nodded. "Fine, but you're staying behind Hotch the entire time."

As the team made their way down the hill they heard the sound of a gun going off. "Shots fired!" JJ heard Morgan yell before they all took off into run the rest of the way down the hill into the forest.

"Reid!" They each called out as they got closer to him. They emerged into the clearing shining their flashlights in every direction praying that Reid wasn't the one who was shot.

"There he is!" Hotch told the team as his flashlight hit the youngest agent. He was kneeling over Tobias' body.

The unit leader knelt down beside Reid scooping his arm under his and helping him up to his wobbly feet. "You alright?"

Not answering Reid wrapped his arms around Aaron's neck pulling him in closely for a hug. "I knew you would understand." He sobbed as Hotch hugged him back.

When the moment was over Hotch passed Reid along to JJ who hugged him tightly trying to keep him balanced against her. "I am so so sorry Spence." JJ tried to hold back her own tears. "It's not your fault," Spencer whispered back. Using her free hand JJ caressed the back of Spencer's head bringing his lip to hers in a light and lingering kiss. For a second to both of them, the world had stopped turning and things felt quiet and peaceful. Once their lips parted JJ kept her forehead rested against Spencer's. "I love you." She whispered. "Sorry, it took me so long to figure it out."

Reid was checked into a hospital about forty minutes later. He lay in a bed with JJ at his side listening to her read a copy of Psychology Monthly.

The rest of the team waited outside until the doctor gave them the go ahead to visit their friend. Morgan was pacing the floor holding an untouched cup of hospital coffee while Emily watched his body language.

The brunette stood up from her seat and joined the agent in his pacing. "You could just apologize?" She told him.

Morgan stopped pacing and looked at the team's newest member. "She told you?"

"It really hurt her Morgan, the fact that you thought she didn't put Reid first in their relationship. And to bring it up while she watched him being tortured was just stupid on your end."

The buff agent slumped into the closest chair he could find. "I'm just afraid. I teased him about not getting any, not having a girlfriend and here they are! She's having his baby and he's going to get the family he always wanted. But I remember dating at his age, though I was fresh out the academy, but I remember thinking my life was going to begin and take off perfectly from here. I would meet the woman of my dreams, have kids at some point and still be able to be the perfect parent." He took a sip from his cup. "I had my heart broken so many times from twenty- five to twenty-eight it just turned into a bulletproof suit you know?"

Emily nodded sadly, she did understand exactly where Morgan was coming from. "You think they're too young to be getting so serious, I get it. But do you really think Reid is the type to just date around?"

Morgan shook his head, "No, but JJ might be. Beautiful, blonde, tons of male friends. She's barely out of her college prime too and she went to college at the right age which makes it worse. I couldn't stand to look at her if she ever broke his heart like girls like that do."

* * *

I think what they have is real. And that baby is just what they need to push them in the right direction."

"I need to tell you something." JJ piped up after the nurse brought Spencer some food to eat.

Struggling to open his jello container Spencer nodded. "Is everything okay?"

JJ nodded before she reached for the container and peeled off the plastic wrap. "How would you feel about moving in?"

Spencer looked up at JJ checking her face for any reason as to why sh may not be certain about this decision. "Yes." He smiled.

JJ nodded before smiling back and taking his hand. "And what if someone else were to move in too?"

"Like Emily and Connie?" He asked his pupils suddenly dilating. The second dose of morphine was finally kicking in.

"No, not Emily and Connie. It would be their very first home and we would have to take care of them." JJ knew she shouldn't be beating around the bush but she just couldn't get herself to say the words.

"A dog?!" Spencer's face lit up. "We are getting a puppy!"

A huge grin spread across JJ's face as she tried to hold back laughter. "A baby Spence. We're having a baby."

A goofy grin grew on Spencer's face. "A baby, I could like babies." He whispered before falling asleep.

* * *

 **AN: I know this chapter is short but I feel like enough happened here for it to be good. Thank you to all that reviewed my last chapter this one is for you!**

 **Also last chapter there was a question about Franklin and Andrew. They are the same person. Andrew Franklin is his name he is (was) and agent of the FBI and worked with JJ on the Lauren case. The two flashbacks from last chapter are from different times. The one where Andrew and JJ sleep together is from during Extreme Aggressor and the one where JJ finds out she is pregnant is during the missing year which explains why Connie is only two months old. JJ is around eight weeks pregnant there.**

 **I hoped this cleared things up and if you have more questions feel free to ask!**

 **Please review! Let's aim for 5-6 this time!**


	8. Chapter 8

The last week had been torturous for JJ. She felt guilty about leaving Spencer when he needed her but she didn't have much of a choice. She would leave before he woke and return long after he had fallen asleep for the night. Spencer was still grounded from flying so he stayed back with Garcia and working from the office while everyone headed out into the field. He spent a lot of time babysitting Connie with Garcia and the pressure was really getting to him.

"What's wrong buttercup?" Penelope asked from her spot on the apartment floor belonging to Prentiss with the toddler close to her.

Spencer placed the science journal; he was reading in his lap. "I just want to be back in the field you know? I feel so lost sitting on the sidelines."

The tech analysis gave him a sympathetic smile, "why don't you head home? I can watch this bundle of joy by myself tonight. It's only a few days until Valentines Day and you should start planning something special for your baby mama."

Spencer's eyes widened he completely forgot about Valentine's day. Well, no, he hadn't forgotten he never forgets, but he didn't think JJ would want to do anything. She never mentioned anything, "what do you think JJ would want?" he asked meekly.

"A nine-week pregnant lady would probably want a foot massage and chocolate."

"Right." He agreed getting out of the chair, "I can do that." He headed down the hall pulling on his coat before stopping at the door and turning back around. "Where do I get the chocolate? And am I giving her the massage?"

* * *

JJ sighed as she walked through four thousand pounds of security to get through the navy base. It was always so much easier when she headed to the bureau, she just had to flash her ID and walk through the metal detector. But the actual Navy section of the Military base was far too stressful, bag checks, two types of ID plus ID card, metal detectors, pat downs, and computer and front desk signs in's. JJ spent more time in that lobby than she did with the NCIS team. She also wore an underwire bra that morning calling for an extra sweep.

After finally getting through security she made it into the office and slumped into her makeshift desk that was oh so kindly given to her at the request of Agent Dillard. "Morning," JJ mumbled as she walked past the redhead who was scooping out the last of her yogurt.

"Good morning Jareau, are you reading to present today?" Evan asked her scrapping her spoon around the plastic container.

JJ's eyes widened, "What? What am I presenting?"

"The plan to get Angela off the ship. My captain wants to make a move by Tomorrow so we need a plan."

JJ shot up out of her chair in a panic! "I wasn't supposed to make a tactical plan Evan! I was in charge of locating her and identity change as well as placement. I was not in charge of recovery!"

"Well, you are now."

Nine AM rolled around fast and JJ found herself in a series of phone calls and emails trying to find the best plan in locating their girl. As the NCIS's team captain walked in JJ was almost ready to present her idea, she just needed one more consult.

" _Hello?"_ Hotch answered his cell phone.

"I need your help Hotch," JJ answered opening another email and jotting down some points.

" _What's going on? Do you need us to come in?"_

"No, I can't tell you anything obviously but hypothetically, if we were to be organizing say a raid against I don't know, a military boat. When is it better to do so day or night?"

Hotch couldn't help but laugh, _"Would the boat be full?"_

"Of course, It doesn't dock until tomorrow evening but we need to check it out now. So it will always have eyes on it."

" _Can you make peace? Only to those who must know you are coming aboard."_

"What about a helicopter landing? Then we bring on the rest once we have the area cleared?"

" _Unannounced? You would be lucky to be able to work at a McDonald's after that."_

"I just need to captains clearance. Perhaps you could call George for me? As a theoretical favor."

* * *

 _Go during the day."_

Emily entered her apartment to find a sleeping Connie and Garcia on her carpeted floor. Toys were thrown all over the place and food was left out in the kitchen. The brunette dropped her go back in the hallway and pulled out her phone taking a picture and sending it to Garcia's cell.

Picking up her daughter Emily walked into the nursery, changed Connie's clothes and placed the groggy toddler into the crib where she snuggled in and fell back asleep.

Returning to the living room Prentiss shook her friend's shoulder gently string the colourful tech awake.

"Wazz goin on!" Garcia gasped sitting up and patting around the floor for the toddler.

"P, she's okay. I put Connie in her crib to sleep. Do you want to sleep on the couch tonight so you don't have to drive?"

"Yes, please," Garcia answered before scooting over to the couch and laying across it and falling back to sleep. Emily laughed at her friend before entering the kitchen and packing up all of the leftover food and taking out a wine glass to pour herself a drink.

The mother of one slumped into the dining room chair and took a long sip of the red wine thinking over the events of today. The poor girls who died at the hands of a monster all because they wanted to follow their dreams. The plane ride home had been interesting, they were short two members and the team just seemed to be too quiet for their own good.

" _So Yale class of 1991?" Hotch suddenly brought up sitting across from Prentiss on the plane._

 _The brunette looked up at her phone and tried to hide her blush. "Yes, Harvard class of 1989?" She asked him already knowing the answer. During his stint as security at her family's Washington home, Emily made sure to learn as much about him as possible. "We are supposed to be sworn, enemies."_

 _Hotch surprised the woman by laughing, "You had that pretty clear fifteen years ago when you threw that ridiculous graduation party."_

 _'Oh God' Emily thought in her head, there were events from that party she would really like to forget! "You remember huh?"_

" _Well, when you're security and someone calls the cops on the place you're monitoring you tend to remember the embarrassment."_

" _I should really apologize for that... and the other thing that happened..."_

" _Already forgotten. I'm just glad to see you're doing better. On better terms with your mom?"_

" _More or less."_

The dream drifted away as the low buzzing of a phone started Emily from her thoughts. Why couldn't her boss have been someone who didn't know about her rebellious past or even someone who hadn't experienced it first hand at least?

Reaching across the dining room table Emily grabbed her phone and flipped it open, "Hello?"

" _Agent Prentiss?"_

Her entire body stiffened.

" _This is Erin Strauss, I was calling to see if you still understood the terms of our agreement. I have not heard from you in some time."_

"I- I uh do, just we have been so busy... and we are short some members so the workload-"

" _How is agent Reid doing? I was surprised when he took time off."_

"Well JJ thought it might be a good idea because he needs to recharge and they would have time to sort things out with the baby and all-" ' _Shit!'_

" _Baby? Is agent Jareau expecting?'_

"Yes, ma'am."

" _And Dr. Reid is the father?'_

"...Yes, ma'am."

" _Thank you for your time."_

* * *

The helicopter landed soundly on the deck of the naval ship. When given the go ahead JJ exited the aircraft jumping onto the deck and met with Captain George Lorcraft. "Good afternoon sir." JJ greeted extending one hand out to the man while the other lay on her skirt trying her best to keep it down due to the extra wind being created by the copter.

"Please to put a face to a name Agent Jareau. Aaron spoke quite highly of you and I just had to meet the lady that could do it all."

Pink rose across JJ's face and her hand raised to caress her stomach. "I'm just doing what I'm told. The package will be here in about ten minutes-"

"Funny think Agent, after my call with Aaron I ran into someone who wasn't supposed to be on my ship." JJ's eyes widened. "Seemed to me like she was a stowaway, she's in my office now eating some lunch."

"You went looking for her?" JJ whispered.

"Just a little investigating. I never liked that man much anyways, I knew something was off with him." The Captain ran his hand through his snow white hair. "He still thinks everything is hunky dory so your men are free to take him when they get here. And you are free to take that little girl home."

JJ wanted nothing more than to hug the Captain but decided to stay professional. "Thank you, sir,"

* * *

 **AN: It's short I know but I wanted to get a chapter out.**

 **Thank you, to everyone who reviewed and please continue to do so.**

 **Next Chapter: Dilaudid!**


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